Army has to be ‘firm’ in ‘sensitive’ Kashmir: Mantri

New Delhi: Defending the tough posture adopted by the Army in dealing with militants in Kashmir and also signalling that the ongoing “Operation All-Out” will continue, defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman has said that the Army has to be firm with “terrorists” and their supporters but added that the Kashmir issue is “sensitive” and “nuanced”.

Ms Sitharaman told reporters on the sidelines of the bi-annual Naval Commanders’ Conference on Tuesday: “I think we need to understand the (Kashmir) issue which is very sensitive with a great deal of nuances. So, we have to understand first about putting everything back at the doorstep of the army. You can’t hold the Army responsible for being firm with terror. We need to be firm with terror.”

More than a year old, Operation All-Out is a relentless no-holds barr-ed deadly offensive against militancy in Kashmir that has resulted in a spike in the elimination of marked militants.

Condemning the death of a tourist from Chen-nai in a stone-pelting incident by protesters as “absolutely unfortunate”, the minister said: “I don’t know whether it (the incident) was inadvertent or (committed) knowingly but it is completely condemnable”.

The tourist’s death could not have come at a more inopportune time as the peak tourist season is about to kick off. “I am sure the CM (Mehbo-oba Mufti) herself is keen on getting more tourists to Kashmir because that will also help in restoring normalcy...,” she added.