Thaindian News

Kolkata, Oct 25 (IANS) The government is stepping up defence preparedness in the wake of reports that India’s security was breached as the Pakistani Army downloaded confidential information on helipads from an Indian helicopter that had inadvertently strayed into its territory, a minister said Tuesday.

According to the report, India’s security was breached in the sensitive Siachen Glacier-Aksai Chin-Ladakh-Kargil sector as the Pakistani Army downloaded GPS coordinates of all helipads from the Indian Army chopper that strayed into Pakistani Kashmir Sunday.

“We are taking the safeguards for the nation’s protection. We are improving our preparedness,” Minister of State for Defence M.M. Pallam Raju told reporters here Tuesday.

“We are taking every precaution to maintain confidentiality of what is important. At the same time we are also stepping up our defence preparedness,” said Raju, here to launch the country’s second indigenous Anti Submarine Warfare corvette ‘Kadmat’ built by the Garden Reach Ship Builders & Engineers Ltd.

The Cheetah helicopter with four officers on board returned to Kargil in Jammu and Kashmir after the Pakistani authorities let it go. India was prompt to appreciate Pakistan’s understanding.

Asked if this gesture will improve the relationship between the two countries, the minister said: “This is an isolated incident. The helicopter had strayed because of bad weather conditions. But I think Pakistan has to do much more to demonstrate that they are friendly neighbours.”