For the first time in the last three years, this November, the number of militants sneaking across the Indo-Pak border came down to a double-digit figure. The number has further come down in December—but what has particularly been noted is that there hasn’t been a single infiltration attempt across the Line of Control since the ceasefire came into effect on November 26. These numbers, collated by the National Security Council Secretariat after inputs from the Intelligence Bureau, Military Intelligence and the Border Security Force, have reinforced the ‘‘warmth’’ this winter as both sides prepare for the Saarc summit in the first week of the new year. There is one intelligence report about 14 militants infiltrating south of Pir Panjal in December but this hasn’t been corroborated yet, sources in the Government told The Sunday Express. Sceptics in the establishment attribute this dip in infiltration to the onset of winter, but the numbers tell a different story—if you compare them with previous years’. • Only 67 persons infiltrated across the LoC in November, 2003. This is in contrast to the in-filtration figure of 127 in November 2002 and 182 in November 2001. • Story’s similar for October. While 120 infiltrated in October 2003, the figures for the same month in 2002 is 149 and 226 in 2001. Diplomats in Delhi admit that although the key militant camps in PoK have not been dismantled—as per India’s consistent demand—Islamabad has taken steps to control infiltration. And that the Pak Army has removed some militant launching pads along the LoC.
