Since December 2002, several contradictory statements have been made on cross border infiltration into Jammu and Kashmir (J&K). On December 6, the then Chief of the Army Staff, General S Padmanabhan, commenting on the Russian President, Vladimir Putin's remarks that ‘infiltration was still high and continuing,’ said that infiltration had declined by 43-44 percent, compared to the corresponding period in 2001. Shortly thereafter, the present Chief of the Army Staff, General NC Vij, on 15 January 2003, maintained that "there is no drop in the level of infiltration. It is at the level it was last winter. It may be low due to constraints of weather, but it is continuing. 
The political leaders in the country have also provided different views on infiltration into J&K. On 26 December 2002, Union Home Minister LK Advani, said that terrorist-training camps in Pakistan had been “reactivated,  and infiltration from across the border has increased since the third week of November. On 8 March 2003, he further said that the situation with regard to infiltration keeps fluctuating but incidents have not come down. A similar statement was made by Defence Minister George Fernandes, who had said on December 18 that Pakistan had reopened terrorist camps and training centers, which had been either closed or relocated in July and August 2002. Speaking in the Upper House of the Indian Parliament, Fernades said “Islamabad has done this to maximize infiltration of terrorists into J&K.  The statements of both these leaders indicate that they are not sure whether infiltration has increased or decreased.
The confusion regarding the actual state of cross-border infiltration is compounded by the stance taken by the J&K State Police and the Border Security Force (BSF). While the BSF claimed that infiltration has gone down, the J&K State Police said it has increased. These contradictory statements by different sources influenced British High Commissioner to India, Sir Rob Young, maintain during his visit to J&K on January 16 that, "Cross-border terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir has made the job of initiation of talks in the State difficult. 
The fact remains that infiltration has gone down since December 2001 when India adopted the twin strategy of garnering international opinion against Pakistan and tried to intimidate Pakistan by deploying its armed forces on the border. According to available data, 2260 infiltrators entered into Jammu and Kashmir in 2000; this number increased to 2706 in the following year. Till July 2002, 748 infiltrators entered J&K, out of which 436 were foreign mercenaries. This meets India’s demands for a complete halt to Pakistan abetting cross-border terrorism only partially. Lt Gen Patankar underlined this fact on January 16 when he said that cross-border infiltration from Pakistan was continuing, though it is difficult to put a figure on actual numbers.
In a related development, the number of casualties also reduced in 2002. In 2000, terrorist related violence resulted in 3288 deaths and in the subsequent year it increased to 4499. Till November 2002, the numbers of casualties were 2783, although there is no direct link with infiltration and number of killings in the state.
Uniformity should be maintained in official figures instead of airing fabricated information. Frequent contradictory statements by top level officials show that there is a lack of coordination and understanding between security agencies and officials. It also shows the weaknesses of our intelligence services. This situation would obviously encourage terrorist organizations to undertake more operations inside the country, and bring a bad reputation to the country and security agencies.
It is very difficult to handle sensitive issues like internal security and terrorism without accurate information. Application of modern technology, satellite surveillance and proper coordination between security agencies would help to collect accurate information on infiltration and help check cross-border terrorism. Though Israel and USA are using surveillance devices to check infiltration across their borders, they have obvious limitations, as these technologies do not work effectively in extreme weather conditions. In the geographical conditions obtaining in J&K, these technologies might fail to function. Since infiltration from across the border is expected to increase in the coming months, the government should take assistance of local people and develop awareness among them to help intelligence agencies to check cross border infiltration alongwith the application of modern technology.
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