Thaindian News

New Delhi, May 16 (IANS) A day after Pakistan’s spy chief threatened reprisal attacks in case New Delhi attempted a special operation against terror suspects on its soil, India Monday carried out a comprehensive review of its security preparedness amidst reports of the presence of Chinese soldiers in Pakistani Kashmir.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh chaired the review with the three armed forces chiefs providing their inputs to the assessment of the security situation against the back drop of the killing of Al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden by US special forces at Abbottabad in the heart of Pakistan May 2, sources said here.

Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) chief Ahmed Shuja Pasha had warned India that an Abbottabad-like operation by New Delhi would invite a fitting response, with Pakistani armed forces having “identified” specific targets and carried out “rehearsals” to attack them.

The 90-minute meeting held at the Prime Minister’s house was attended by Defence Minister A.K. Antony, National Security Adviser Shivshankar Menon, Air Force Chief Air Chief Marshal P.V. Naik, Navy Chief Admiral Nirmal Verma, Army Chief General V.K. Singh and Defence Secretary Pradeep Kumar, the sources said.

At the meeting, the armed forces’ preparedness to meet any security challenge that may be posed by terror networks in the region and conventional threats from Pakistan’s armed forces came up for review.

“The prime minister was briefed on the overall security measures and the general preparedness of the defence forces. Issues like changing security situation in Pakistan and the situation along the Sino-Indian border were discussed,” defence ministry officials said here.

This meeting comes less than a week after Antony held a similar two-day review of overall security of the country and coastal security in particular with maritime agencies and two days after the prime minister returned from Kabul, where he had discussed the latest developments with Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai.

The Indian Army has also raised its alertness level in the wake of reports that Pakistan may try to infiltrate militants into Jammu and Kashmir.

It has also raised an alarm over Chinese military personnel’s presence in Pakistani Kashmir in the guise of engineering workers and the threat posed by the large neighbour to the security of Jammu and Kashmir.