PM chairs meet on J&K security

A high level meeting, chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, on Wednesday discussed the security situation in Jammu and Kashmir.

The two-hour-long meeting, which discussed various intelligence inputs about the law and order situation in the state, was also briefed by Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad.

The meeting in Delhi comes barely a week after the prime minister had chaired a meeting of all chief ministers on internal security.

In Wednesday's meeting, Azad had warned that the state was fast turning into a gateway of militants to the country and said immediate steps needed to be taken for bringing down the infiltration level to near zero.

The chief minister while briefing the meeting said the majority of infiltrating militants slipped into the hinterland to cause explosions and demanded immediate sanction of 15 battalions (15,000 personnel) for the state police.

The meeting, which was also attended by External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil, National Security Advisor M K Narayanan, Prime Minister's Principal Secretary P K A Nair and intelligence officials, also discussed Centre-state relations.