PM and Army chief discuss security situation in J-K

NEW DELHI: The security situation in Jammu and Kashmir and in Pakistan and Afghanistan came up for discussion when Army chief General Deepak Kapoor called on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh here.

Kapoor, who met the Prime Minister on Thursday, is understood to have briefed him on his recent visit to the UK to intensify the comprehensive defence cooperation pact with India, official sources said. The army chief went on a four-day visit in the beginning of this month.

On the security scenario in the country, the sources said Kapoor briefed Singh on the situation in Jammu and Kashmir and the future security perception in the state where elections are expected to take place in the next few months.

The heightened level of violence in the valley and increased infiltration bids by militants from across the Line of Control (LoC) also formed part of the briefing, the sources said.

Kapoor is also understood to have briefed the Prime Minister on the situation in Afghanistan in the wake of reports that Pakistan Army was aware of the bomb attack plot on the Indian Embassy in Kabul.

Regarding his UK visit, the army chief said India's Mechanised Forces were for the first time training and exercising with the British Army troops and elaborated on his discussions with the army and UK Defence Ministry top brass.

The recent visit of Israeli Army chief Maj Gen Avi Mizrahi also came up during the briefing.