New Delhi, Dec. 27 :    New Delhi, Dec. 27:  It is a photograph that has been taken, even shown but not exhibited: defence minister George Fernandes at the Ferozepur border with Pakistan where the Pakistani Rangers are giving him a guard of honour and a salute. The event took place yesterday during Fernandes' tour of the western sector, when the defence minister was delayed on his return to New Delhi. For Pakistan, it can be a major embarrassment - a guard of honour and a salute given by a contingent of its forces, smartly attired in battle regalia, to the Indian defence minister, even as the Indian armed forces continue with what is their largest mobilisation since 1971. In July, when Musharraf came for the Agra summit, the Indian Air Force Chief, Air Chief Marshal A.Y. Tipnis, refused to salute the enemy, the man India has held responsible for the Kargil war - he shook hands instead. Shortly after watching the closing ceremony at the Ferozepur border gate - that mirrors the daily beating retreat at the Wagah border - Fernandes said the deployments would be complete by the weekend. That was also the briefing given by the services chiefs to India's war Cabinet in the operations room of the defence ministry just before the Cabinet Committee of Security (CCS) met this evening and decided on stage II of its diplomatic offensive. The briefing, given by the director-general of military operations and the services chiefs, focussed on the current situation on the border, the level of troops deployment, operational requirements, movement of militant camps, the level of conflict on the Line of Control and on the international boundary. External affairs minister Jaswant Singh said after the CCS meeting that 'institutionalised mechanisms' in relations with Pakistan continue. Asked specifically on the weekly talks held by the Directors General of Military Operations (DGMO), Singh said 'they are still open'. So far though, the DGMO-level talks - normally held every Tuesday - have not served to scale down the tension building up on the border. The DGMO-level talks were instituted as a measure to manage conflict situations. It is now almost certain that the level of mobilisation that is 'near complete' is more than what had taken place either during Operation Brasstacks in 1987 or during the Kargil war in 1999. The country's 11-lakh-plus strong army has summoned units of nearly all its formations, including some from the reserves, from peace stations. Indian Air Force has moved some assets to forward bases in the northern and western sectors on the APM (Adopt Precautionary Measures) level, jargon that is used to instruct units to prepare in anticipation of an outbreak of hostilities. The military briefing is understood to have also given an assessment of the movement of militant camps in Pakistan. Till about two months ago, an estimated 170 camps were said to have been there. The number has gone down now, but some still exist and others have retreated deeper into Pakistani territory. Intelligence has also suggested that there has been a movement of militants into PoK from other places in Pakistan.