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By Dinesh Kumar
The Times of India
May 3, 1999
Title: Political upheavals will make ISI busier: Ved Malik Author: By Dinesh Kumar Publication: The Times of India Date: May 3, 1999 Chief of army staff General Ved Prakash Malik has said the possibility of the Pakistani army and the inter-services intelligence (ISI) taking advantage of the current political situation in order to intensify the proxy war in Kashmir cannot be ruled out. "It is our assessment that Pakistan will continue to pursue belligerence, abet infiltration and indulge in proxy war at a higher level. The recent Lahore declaration has not in any way changed the ground situation in Kashmir. If anything, the Pakistani army and ISI are still as active in aiding and abetting terrorism in the state," he told The Times of India here on Sunday. "All recent intelligence reports indicate a greater planning and effort on the part of the Pakistani army to infiltrate terrorists along the Line of Control (LoC) as well as the Jammu stretch of the International Border," he added. The ISI is headed and controlled by the Pakistani army. Pointing to how there has been a qualitative upgrading of weaponry in the state, General Malik said militants were now using night vision devices, satellite telephones for communication, high frequency radio sets with burst communication capability and more sophisticated improvised explosive devices to name a few. Attempts to infiltrate terrorists have shown a marked increase in April. The number of attempts is remarkably "more than normal" than those made in around the same period in preceding years, the army chief said. There appears to be an element of desperation to intensify terrorism in the state," he said pointing out that there were reports of criminals being released from Pakistani jails to join the terrorist movement in the state. "There has been a rise in infiltration of terrorists belonging to Pakistan, Afghanistan and Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (POK)," he said. "A sense of desperation appears to be evident in the manner the militants have been eliminating anyone suspected to be a loyal citizen," the army chief said while referring to the recent massacre of nine members of a family in Kupwara district. In a fundamentalist move, the pro-Pakistan Lashkar-e-Toiba last week directed young women wearing tight- fit clothes in the valley. Of late, the terrorists in Kashmir have been focusing their killing spree in Rajauri- Poonch sector of the state. Commenting on deficiencies in the army's counter-insurgency equipment in the state, Gen. Malik said, "We have waken up a little late in procurement of weapons and equipment required by our troops in Kashmir. Even now I feel that the pace needs to be accelerated," he added.
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