By Manash Pratim Bhuyan and Priyanka TikooNew Delhi, Jan 14 (PTI) Political initiative must go"hand-in-hand" with military operations in Jammu and Kashmirto bring peace, Army chief Gen Bipin Rawat said today, andfavoured ramping up military offensive to pile up heat onPakistan to stop cross-border terrorism in the state.
Gen Rawat said the armed forces operating in the statecannot be "status quoist" and must evolve new strategies andtactics to deal with the situation, which he feels is"marginally" better since he took over a year ago.
In an interview to PTI, the Army chief asserted thatthere was room for ramping up heat on Pakistan to cut flow ofcross border terror activities, clearly indicating that theArmy will continue its policy of hot pursuit in dealing withmilitancy.
"The political initiative and all the other initiativesmust go simultaneously hand-in-hand and only if all of usfunction in synergy, we can bring lasting peace in Kashmir. Ithas to be a politico-military approach that we have to adopt,"the Army chief said.
In October, the government had appointed formerIntelligence Bureau chief Dineshwar Sharma as its specialrepresentative for a "sustained dialogue" with allstakeholders in J-K.
"When the government appointed an interlocutor, it iswith that purpose. He is the government's representative toreach out to the people of Kashmir and see what theirgrievances are so that those can then be addressed at apolitical level," the Army chief said.
Asked whether there is room for ramping up pressure onPakistan to force it to stop sending terrorists to the state,he said, "Yes, you cannot be status quoist. You have tocontinuously think and keep moving forward. You have to keepchanging your doctrines and concept and the manner in whichyou operate in such areas."Gen Rawat said the Army will have to evolve newstrategies and new tactics to deal with the situation. At thesame time, he said an overall approach was required to dealwith the Kashmir issue.
Since beginning of last year, the Army pursued anaggressive anti-terror policy in Jammu and Kashmir and, at thesame time, forcefully responded to all ceasefire violations byPakistani troops along the Line of Control with a tit-for-tatapproach.
"Military is only part of the mechanism to resolve theKashmir issue. Our charter is to ensure that the terroristswho are creating violence in the state are taken to task andthose who have been radicalised and are increasingly movingtowards terrorism are prevented from doing so," he said.
Gen Rawat said some youths continue to be radicalised andare joining militancy. The Army has been trying to maintainpressure on terror groups, he said.
The Army's aim is to ensure that it continues to maintainthe pressure on the terrorists and those fomenting troublethere, Gen Rawat said.
"But at the same time, we have to also reach out to thepeople," he said.
Asked whether the situation in Kashmir has improved sincehe has taken over as the Army chief a year ago, Gen Rawatsaid, "I am only seeing a marginal change in situation for thebetter.
"I do not think it is time to become over confident andstart assuming that the situation has been brought undercontrol because infiltration from across the borders willcontinue."The LoC has remained volatile in the last year. Accordingto official figures, 860 incidents of ceasefire violations byPakistani troops were reported in 2017 as against 221 the yearbefore.
India has also been effectively retaliating to Pakistanifiring and even crossed the LoC to punish Pakistani troops onseveral occasions as part of tactical operations. PTI MPB/PYKASKASK.
This is unedited, unformatted feed from the Press Trust of India wire.