Islamabad: Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf on January 28 said he has ordered his troops to step up vigil to prevent cross-border infiltration into Jammu and Kashmir, according to Janata Party president Subramaniam Swamy.

Swamy, who had an hour-long meeting with Musharraf at Army House in Rawalpindi, said the Pakistani President was, however, "dismissive" of the remarks by US Ambassador to India Robert Blcakwill and his counterpart in Islamabad, Nancy Powel that Pakistan should honour its commitments and put an end to the infiltration of militants across the line of control (LoC).

Such statements from the diplomats as well as media reports did not take the ground realities into consideration, Swamy quoted Musharraf as saying.

Talking to two Indian journalists in Islamabad after the meeting, Swamy said Musharraf told him that training facilities for militants existed since the days of the struggle against Soviet occupation of Afghanistan, but most of those militants have become "freelance" terrorists, which was not being taken into consideration.

According to Swamy, Musharraf told him that though he has ordered troops to step up vigil along the LoC, it was difficult to bring a complete end to infiltration in view of rugged and hostile terrain.

"If you think we can stop the infiltration from our end, why can't you stop it from your end. Militants cross whenever the guard is low. We face the same constraints as you do at your end," Musharraf told Swamy.

PTI