Panel report skips mention of troop cut

An expert panel set up by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to look into demands of troop rationalisation in Jammu and Kashmir has come up with a number of measures for security forces to “cause least inconvenience to the local population”, but remains silent on the question of reducing the number of army personnel deployed in the state. Clearing the air on recommendations of the panel, Defence Minister A K Antony informed Parliament on Wednesday that the main points pertain to increasing rentals of land occupied by the Army, resolving old disputed cases and vacating school buildings and hospitals. Antony said the draft report of the panel has been submitted to the Government and it would be implemented, keeping in view the “prevailing security situation”. He also said a list of ‘dos and don’ts’ issued by the security forces needs to be followed strictly by the local population. The Army will rework the timing of its convoys and vehicle movements in the state to cause least inconvenience to civilians, the Defence Minister said.

There was no mention of troop rationalisation in Antony’s statement. Both Antony and Army Chief General Deepak Kapoor have indicated several times in the past that reducing troops in the Valley was out of question.