Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee has asserted that the centre's offer to initiate a dialogue with militant groups in Jammu and Kashmir would by no means undermine its determination to fight terrorism. The PM advocated the formulation of a national strategy to meet challenges to internal security. “Our initiative for a dialogue with anybody who is willing to sit across the table and eschew violence in J&K would by no means undermine our determination to fight terrorism”, Vajpayee told the first-ever conference of chief ministers on internal security in New Delhi. On the contrary, we will act with added resolve particularly in our effort to eliminate cross-border terrorism. There shall be no let up in our determined fight against those who seek to harm India's unity and integrity. Charging Pakistan with adopting cross-border terrorism as an instrument of state policy to further its hostility towards India, Vajpayee said challenges to internal security should no longer be seen as state-specific problem, but from a national perspective. The changed nature, magnitude and dimension of the threat to our internal security necessitates that both the centre and the states pool their resources to formulate a national strategy and adopt effective tactics. Responding to a plea by home minister L K Advani, the Prime Minister announced raising allocation of funds for modernisation of police forces from Rs 200 crore in the last financial year to Rs 1,000 crore annually.
Report : Zeenext Bureau