Fencing not attempt to settle Kashmir unilaterally: PM

Rejecting Pakistan's objections to India building fencing along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir, Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee said the step was an "operational requirement" to stop infiltration of militants and not part of any attempts by India to unilaterally settle the issue.

"There was no question of India trying to settle the issue of Jammu and Kashmir by building a fence along the Line of Control," Vajpayee said in an interview to Pakistan daily Dawn on Friday, ahead of his visit to Islamabad on Saturday to take part in the Saarc summit.

Replying to questions over recent Pakistan assertions that the fencing violated the bilateral accords between the two countries, Vajpayee said, "as you know India does not recognise the LoC as an international boundary. As the name implies, it is a line up to which our two countries exercise actual control on our respective sides. It was delineated by a bilateral agreement in December, 1972."

"The fencing was an operational requirement to stop the infiltration of the militants. The fencing also shared same objective as the recent ceasefire between the two countries, which was to stop infiltration of militants," he said.

Pakistan has recently lodged a mild protest with India over the construction of fencing, specially when the ceasefire was in operation between the two countries.

Islamabad, January 02, 2003 (PTI)