Politico-military approach needed for peace in J&K, says Bipin Rawat

Army chief Gen Bipin Rawat on Sunday said political initiative must go “hand-in-hand” with military operations in Jammu and Kashmir to bring peace. Rawat, however, favoured mounting military offensive to pile up heat on Pakistan to stop cross-border terrorism.

While the Army chief said the situation in the state was marginally better than a year ago when he took over, he added the armed forces cannot be “status quoist” and must evolve new strategies.

Talking to PTI, Gen Rawat maintained that “the political initiative and all the other initiatives must go simultaneously hand-in-hand and only if all of us function in synergy, we can bring lasting peace in Kashmir. It has to be a politico-military approach that we have to adopt.”

Commenting on the government-appointed special representative, Dineshwar Sharma, the chief stated, “When the government appointed an interlocutor, it is with that purpose. He is the government’s representative to reach out to the people of Kashmir and see what their grievances are so those can then be addressed at a political level.” About India’s strategy on confronting Pakistan, Rawat said,“You have to continuously think and keep moving forward. You have to keep changing doctrines and the manner in which you operate in such areas.”

The chief, however, added that an overall approach was required to deal with the Kashmir issue. “Military is only part of the mechanism to resolve the Kashmir issue. Our charter is to ensure that the terrorists who are creating violence in the state are taken to task and those who have been radicalized and are increasingly moving towards terrorism are prevented from doing so,” he said.

The Army chief, while commenting on the Kashmir youth, said some youngsters continue to be radicalized and are joining militancy.