Dehra Dun: Army chief General S Padmanabhan on December 10 reiterated that the infiltration from across the border has come down sharply and hoped that the re- deployment process currently undertaken by the Indian Army would be completed soon.

"According to the parameters set by the Army and the estimates from the border areas that we have received, the level of infiltration has come down by 44 per cent," Padmanabhan said on the sidelines of the passing out parade of the Indian Military Academy.

However, he said these figures were mere statistics and data and would not carry 100 per cent validity.

Terming 'Operation Parakram' as an excellent achievement, he said "The army achieved substantially with the operation and all the wings of the army co-ordinated very well."

Earlier, the 70th batch of the Indian Military Academy passed out with Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw, a member of the first batch who had passed out from the Academy, reviewing the impressive parade.

A total of 497 cadets, including 18 foreign recruits passed out this year, which was the 70th anniversary of the academy.

In the last 70 years Indian Military Academy had trained over 40,000 cadets including officers from many foreign countries.

PTI