‘Army Has Managed Situation Along China & Pak Borders Well’: Rawat

Army Chief Bipin Rawat was speaking at his annual press conference in Delhi.

File photo of Indian Army Chief Bipin Rawat.

(Photo: PTI)

Army chief Gen Bipin Rawat on Thursday, 10 January, said the Indian Army has handled the situation along the borders with China and Pakistan well. He further said the situation in Jammu and Kashmir needs to be improved further, but cautioned by saying, “talks and terror cannot go together”.

“The Army has managed the situation well along the borders with China and Pakistan and there should be no cause for concern,” Rawat said while speaking at his annual press conference.

“Situation in Jammu and Kashmir needs to be brought under better control. We’re adopting hard power and soft power approach... We have managed the situation well along the northern and western borders.”

Army chief Gen Bipin Rawat

The army chief, however, reminded the media that “there are around 300 terrorists waiting across the LoC to infiltrate into India,” adding there should be no cause for concern.

‘India Has Interest in Afghanistan’

With the US and Russia reaching out to the Taliban in Afghanistan, Rawat cleared that the Indian army is also interested in improving its ties with Afghanistan, as it ‘doesn't want to be out of the bandwagon’.

“Do we have an interest in Afghanistan? If yes, then we can’t be out of the bandwagon... Should we, in some way, be a part of the talks? We should not be left out,”

Army chief Gen Bipin Rawat

However, “the same analogy can't apply to Jammu and Kashmir. Talks in the state have to be on our terms," he asserted.

'Can’t Ban Social Media’

On the use of social media by the army, Rawat asserted that the army cannot ban the use of social media. However, he stressed up on the need to be vigilant on its use.

“Social media is there to stay. We cannot deny people to not use social media, but we have issued very explicit instructions on the use of social media. We have explained to our people how social media is used by our adversaries to trap us and get valuable information out of us.”

Army chief Gen Bipin Rawat

Rawat had stressed on a similar message in his previous media interactions where he talked about how social media should be ‘leveraged to an advantage'.

During the press conference, he expressed that the army is using social media to its advantage through its the Armaan app.

“The Armaan app is being used to facilitate information to the army. We are hoping that it will spread to all over India. Any person with a query on salary, pension or pay, they can go on that app.”

Army chief Gen Bipin Rawat

(With inputs from PTI)