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Amid demands from certain quarters for reduction of troops in Jammu and Kashmir, the government on Thursday said infiltration the state was increasing in the summer months.
This may shelve any plans for troop reduction in the militancy-hit state as demanded by the People's Democratic Party, a partner of the ruling Congress-led coalition in the state.
"We are aware of the fact that with the melting of ice in summer, there is a surge in the infiltration," Minister of State for Defence M M Pallam Raju told reporters on the sidelines of the defence exhibition DEFCOM India.
His comment comes close on the heels of warnings by several security agencies including the military intelligence that militant groups in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir were planning to infiltrate the state in a big way to replenish depleting cadres in Jammu and Kashmir.
The government has formed a committee headed by Defence Secretary Shekhar Dutt to examine the issue of relocating and reconfiguring troop deployments in the state following the PDP's demand.
However, with infiltration going up, the chances of reduction or relocation of troops were low, official sources said.
Even Defence Minister A K Antony has said the government will decide on any movement of troops only on the basis of professional advice from the military.