Challenge is to maintain J&K peace, not in favour of dilution of grid: GOC Rajiv Ghai

“Therefore, no dilution of the grid is recommended and I’m definitely not a proponent of that at this stage,” he said.

In February 2023, the government was considering a proposal to withdraw the Indian Army completely from the Valley hinterland. If approved, the Army would have a presence only on the LoC.

It was also proposed that the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) would fill in for the Army personnel removed from the Valley to meet the challenges of both law and order and counter-terror operations.

The move had met with resistance from the Army, sources told The Indian Express.

Significantly, the remarks come at a time when Jammu and Kashmir just wrapped up its last phase of voting.

The GoC said that in 2023, local recruitment to militant outfits was “about a dozen”, which in 2024 is down to two militants. However, while official numbers take note of those individuals who leave their homes and go underground, a qualitative distinction has been made in recent years based on violence profiles that take into account a phenomenon termed “hybrid militancy”, where individuals conduct an incident and reassimilate into society.

“Kashmir has had a good couple of years. It will need a few more good years for this peace to be enduring and lasting. And that I feel is the biggest challenge for the security forces. To maintain things, as they are today,” Ghai said.

If all the parameters against which the security situation is weighed, “they have all been down”, he said.

“Terrorism today is largely fuelled from across the border. As I see it, over the last year-and-a-half, we haven’t had any active recruitment. The numbers were down to a dozen (last year) and this year, they’re almost next to nil,” he said, adding that even in case of other violence parameters, “including atrocities committed by terrorists, softer targets have been picked, where it’s easier for even untrained personnel wielding a pistol to carry it out”.

According to Ghai, the official number of currently active militants in the Valley is about 80 — “the lowest in many years”. The number of infiltration attempts at the LoC too are down, he said, although he provided no figures.

“It is possible that infiltration is taking place from other areas. As you see in Jammu, the numbers (of terrorists) have increased because that area was always peaceful.” He said that those numbers will also come down.

He also stated that militants “are crossing over the Pir Panjal” to come into the Valley “wherever there is pressure in an area”.

“If they do an incident, they move to a different part. Then, in that area, they will not give any indications about their location.” However, he added that “sometimes, either the intelligence is late or not precise enough to carry out an operation”.

The GoC also admitted that militant groups are using “ultra communication” such as encrypted applications over the internet to maintain their networks.

“While presently this is affording them secrecy, but I assure you that work is on in that regard and soon we will be able to crack that encryption,” he said.

According to him, the ceasefire agreement on the LoC between India and Pakistan, reiterated in February 2021, is holding but the Army is deliberating on a plan to move villages on the LoC that are beyond the fence to areas within.

“There is a lot of thought going into that, we already have our blueprints in place. It requires cooperation and synergy with the civil administration also because there are various aspects that are involved in such a move taking place,” he said.

Security, he said, is always a concern “but at no point in time can you ignore the socio-economic factors that will affect these people when they move from there”.

“So therefore, there is a plan that is evolving and I am sure in the near, foreseeable future, it will unfold. Because it is desirable,” he said.