J-K truce gets fresh lease of life

J-K truce gets fresh lease of life
UNITED NEWS OF INDIA

New Delhi, Feb 21: Backed by all major political parties, the Centre tonight extended the ceasefire in Jammu and Kashmir for the third time beyond February 26 to pursue the peace initiative for achieving a lasting solution to the Kashmir problem.

The period of extension and other details would be announced by Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee after question hour in Parliament tomorrow, Home Minister L K Advani told waiting newspersons after the two-hour long crucial meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS).

The CCS approval was a foregone conclusion after the government received overwhelming support from political parties of all hues at this morning's all-party meeting chaired by Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee.

Unlike the last stormy session of the CCS, when the issue of extension of ceasefire came up in January, today's meeting attended by the Minister of Home, Defence, External Affairs and Finance, National Security Adviser Brajesh Mishra, Cabinet Secretary T R Prasad and the Army chief, was a smooth affair.

A presentation on the security scenario in Jammu and Kashmir was made by the intelligence agencies at the meeting followed by briefs given by the Army chief and security heads on the situation on the line of control and other border areas.

The activities of Lashkar-e-Toiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed, which of late have stepped up violence in the state, came up for discussion and certain suggestions were made on how to curb their subversive acts which are proving detrimental to the ceasefire.

Earlier in the day, all political parties gave the green signal to the Centre to extend the ceasefire, agreeing with the government's view that the truce had a positive impact on the Valley.

The BJP, the Congress and the Left parties however cautioned the government to ensure greater vigilance to protect `soft targets'.

There was total unanimity among the leaders of all the parties that the ceasefire should be further extended.

In order to take all the political parties into confidence, the government held today's meeting ahead of the Cabinet Committee on Security. At the beginning of the meeting the government made a presentation that showed the positive side of continuing with the ceasefire.

For the first time, all political parties were told about the ground realities in the Valley where cross-border firing had decreased significantly although militant activities particularly by foreign mercenaries continued. People in the Valley were also satisfied with the ceasefire.