Indian army chief arrived in Srinagar on a two day visit to Kashmir

NEW DELHI: Indian army chief Manoj Mukund Naravane on Thursday arrived in Srinagar on a two day visit to Kashmir for an assessment of the security situation along the border with Pakistan which has seen numerous violations of a 2003 ceasefire agreement.

Naravane’s trip to Kashmir coincided with reports that security forces in Kashmir had uncovered a major haul of explosives at a spot very close to a highway proximate to the site of a car bomb attack last year in February in which 40 paramilitary personnel were killed. The visit also comes amid a military faceoff with China in Ladakh.

An Indian army statement said Naravane proceeded to “undertake a firsthand assessment of the situation along the Line of Control (LC) in North Kashmir,” soon after his arrival. “During his interaction with the soldiers deployed in high altitude areas, he appreciated their high morale and complimented them on their response to Pakistan ceasefire violations,” the statement said. “He also commended use of technology to ensure effective day and night surveillance across the LC which has resulted in many successful operations to foil infiltration bids from POJK (Pakistan Occupied Jammu and Kashmir) in the recent past,” it said.

The army chief “appreciated the high level of coordination amongst all government agencies towards maintaining peace in the valley and efforts to reach out to the ‘Awam’ (people) to overcome the challenges due to covid 19 pandemic,” the statement said.

Meanwhile, an NDTV report said that a joint security search operation in Kashmir on Thursday revealed a syntex tank that was buried in an orchard. Around 52 kilograms of explosives were found in the tank. More searches led to another such tank with 50 detonators, the report quoted security personnel as saying. The spot where the explosives were found was very close to the 2019 Pulwama attack site.