Cease-fire set to be extended by one month

NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 18: The cease-fire in Jammu & Kashmir is likely to be extended by a month. The issue was discussed this morning du...

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NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 18: The cease-fire in Jammu & Kashmir is likely to be extended by a month. The issue was discussed this morning during an â€˜â€˜informalâ€™â€™ meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS), chaired by Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee.

Besides Union Home Minister L.K.Advani, Defence Minister George Fernandes, External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh, Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha and Principal Secretary to the PM, Brajesh Mishra, too were present in the hour-long brainstorming session. Though it was not a formal CCS meeting and the group reviewed the overall security scenario in the country (including the North-East), the discussion primarily revolved around the issue of extension of the cease-fire, sources said.

A formal CCS meeting will be held any day now to enable Vajpayee to announce his decision on the cease-fire in Parliament, where the winter session is coming to an end on Friday.

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It became clear today that the decision-makers are treading with extreme caution. Advani, when contacted, refused to speak on the meeting.

However, observers in the Home Ministry said that barring a last-minute hitch, the Government had more or less made up its mind to extend the cease-fire for a month after December 28.

Army Chief Padmanabhan is learnt to have met Vajpayee in the morning and briefed him about the situation along the Line of Control (LoC) in Kashmir. Padmanabhan had also met Advani a few days ago and, thereafter, the Home Minister took up the matter with Fernandes and Jaswant.

As a senior official pointed out, â€˜â€˜data is being collated from various quarters in different Government and intelligence agencies. The input is being reviewed on a daily basis. We will not act in haste.â€™â€™