Army Chief: Hard response will hit Pakistan terror strategy

New Delhi: The ministry of external affairs said on Wednesday that the surgical strikes by the Indian Army against terrorists operating from Pakistan-occupied territory in 2016 was carried out with the aim that India “will not countenance continued terrorism as the new normal in our (Indo-Pak) relationship,” adding that India had shown that “we will not back down in the face of assaults against the security of our people”. This came even as new Army Chief Gen. Bipin Rawat said India would give a calibrated, “hard” response to terror activities that would compel Pakistan to completely rethink its strategy on supporting insurgency and terrorism.

The MEA also said that it “cannot have a peaceful conversation” with Pakistan “under the spray of bullets”, adding that “talks and terror cannot go together”.

Meanwhile, Army Chief Gen. Rawat told news agency PTI, “While we do agree that we have to retaliate and ensure that the pain is felt by the terrorists and their supporters, the response need not be the same every time... We will calibrate the response in a manner that hits them hard and compels them to think in the long-run whether they need to completely rethink their strategy on supporting insurgency and terrorism in our state”.

On Wednesday evening, in an opening statement at an MEA conference on foreign policy achievements to mark the completion of the “mid-term” of the NDA government, minister of state for external affairs Gen. (retd.) V.K. Singh said, “All the countries of the region, barring one, have demonstrated their willingness to stand together against the menace of terrorism that could undermine their collective hopes. India too, has shown that we will not back down in the face of assaults against the security of our people, the prosperity of the region and the interests of the international community. The aim of the surgical strikes that we conducted was to convey to Pakistan that we will not countenance continued terrorism as the new normal in our relationship. Our own good faith has been amply demonstrated time and again through repeated initiatives.”
to normalise the relationship. However, as we have often stated, talks and terror cannot go together.”

When asked why India does not snap diplomatic ties with Pakistan amid demands by some in the ruling BJP to teach Pakistan a lesson militarily, the MEA later said, “The engagement with Pakistan needs to continue. We have to deal with them with eyes open and not minds closed. Talk of inflammation does not help. We hope Pakistan sees the path of reason.”

Army Chief Gen. Rawat also said that not every incident needs to be seen from the same perspective as there are a “large number” of terrorists operating in the Kashmir Valley who are always attempting to carry out some sort of violence against the security forces and citizens.