Amritsar: There is a need to strengthen the country's intelligence network to combat terrorism for which contribution of states is crucial, Minister of State for Defence Jitender Singh said on Sunday.
Interacting with reporters here, he said there was a need to tone up intelligence gathering mechanism for which state governments were better equipped since they had grass root level support.
States have panchayats, secretaries, patwaris etc which could be helpful to gather essential intelligence information that can surely help prevent incidents of terrorism, he said.
Asserting that the defence forces were always on high alert, he said the jawans were ready to meet any kind of challenge.
Referring to the beheading of an Indian soldier by Pakistan army in recent past in Jammu and Kashmir, he said adequate steps have been taken so that such an incident does not recur.
On the VVIP chopper scam, he said investigations were on without any political interference.
Besides going around some defence installations, he visited some IAF, Army and NCC units and the Integrated Check Post at Attari/Wagah border.
PTI
First Published: Monday, March 04, 2013, 00:13