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.â€Â