Vajpayee likely to hold security meeting

Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee was likely to hold an "informal" meeting of his security cabinet Wednesday amid a six-month standoff with Pakistan, officials said.

The Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) is the top government panel comprising all key ministers and takes national security-related decisions, particularly those related to arch-rival Islamabad.

Members of the committee include Foreign Minister Jaswant Singh, Home Minister Lal Krishna Advani, Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha, Defence Minister George Fernandes and the chiefs of army, navy and air force.

Officials said the meeting was expected to be held at 5:15 pm (1145 GMT).

The last CCS meeting was held on July 14 immediately after the visit of US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.

New Delhi , June 26, 2002 (AFP)