Antony reviews security scenario

The high-level meeting was also attended by Defence Secretary and National Security Advisor

Defence Minister A K Antony today reviewed the country's security scenario with the three Services chiefs and other top officials against the backdrop of incursions by Chinese soldiers and increasing ceasefire violations on the LoC.

The high-level meeting was also attended by Defence Secretary R K Mathur and National Security Advisor Shivshankar Menon.

In the meeting, the security situation along the LoC was discussed and Army Chief Gen Bikram Singh briefed the minister about the steps taken by the force to handle the incidents of unprovoked firing by Pakistan Army.

After the August 6 incident in Poonch where five Indian soldiers were killed in an attack by Pakistan Army Special Forces, there have been 39 incidents on ceasefire violations from across the LoC.

The Kargil-Drass section of the LoC, which has been relatively silent since the ceasefire agreement was reached upon between two sides in 2003, has also seen around 10 such violations.

The meeting is also learnt to have discussed the incursions taking place along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) by the Chinese People's Liberation Army.

In the past eight months, there have been over 150 incursions by Chinese troops inside Indian territory in Ladakh and Arunachal Pradesh sector.

The Army has been downplaying the issue of incursions saying that the LAC was disputed at several places and both sides patrol up to their perception of the boundary.