Indian Air Force’s Balakot Strike Pays Dividend: Net Infiltration In J&K Down By 43 Per Cent, Says Home Ministry

The Union Minister of State (MoS) for Home Affairs, Nityanand Rai informed the Lok Sabha on Tuesday (9 July) that the net infiltration from across the border in Jammu and Kashmir have reduced by as much as 43 per cent since the Indian Air Force (IAF) carried out air strikes on Jaish-e-Mohammed terror training camp in Pakistan’s Balakot on 26 February this year, reports The Hindu.

"Due to concerted and synergised efforts of the security forces, the security situation in the state has received an improvement in the first half of this year over the corresponding period of 2018. Net infiltration has reduced by 43 per cent, " said Rai.

The minister’s remarks came in response to a written question on whether the cross-border infiltration in J&K has reduced after the Balakot.

The Union Government has adopted a zero tolerance approach towards dealing with cross-border infiltration. In a bid to bolster India's borders against such attempts, the government has adopted a multi-pronged approach to contain infiltration which includes multi-tiered deployment along the International Border and Line of Control (LoC).

In a separate information to the house, MoS Home Affairs, G Kishan Reddy said that the terrorist activities in the state had witnessed a decline of 28 per cent while the net infiltration and local recruitment reduced by 43 per cent and 40 per cent respectively. He also informed that the neutralisation of terrorists has increased by 22 per cent.