Ministry clarifies George remark on Kargil peak

New Delhi, Jan 2: In a flip-flop, the Defence Ministry today clarified that at no point during his two-day visit to Kargil last weekend had Defence Minister George Fernandes stated that Point 5353 in the Mushkoh valley was now in possession of Indian troops and regretted an "error" committed by its publicity wing.

"At no point of time the Defence Minister had said that Point 5353 is now in possession of Indian troops", a Defence Ministry statement said today clarifying that its release on Monday stating that Fernandes had stood on the peak was a mistake committed by the "Press Information Bureau’s Defence Wing".

"The error is regretted," the statement said.

A Defence Ministry statement had on Monday said the Minister interacting with the newsmen had stated that the "misinformation being spread about Point 5353 that it was earlier in India’s occupation and had subsequently been lost should end once for all."

The Minister, who flew to number of posts in snow-bound Kargil and Drass area, which were scenes of heavy fighting in `Operation Vijay’ in 1999, on Saturday, had got himself photographed with the watershed ridge with point 5353 in the background, the statement said today.