Terrorism and talks can't go hand in hand: Army Chief General Bipin Rawat

Indian Army Chief General Bipin Rawat has reacted sharply to Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan’s tweet after India called off the meeting between Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj and her Pakistani counterpart Shah Mehmood Qureshi.

ANI quotes General Rawat as saying, “I think our government's policy has been quite clear and concise. We've made no bones about the fact that talks and terrorism can't go hand in hand. Pakistan needs to curb the menace of terrorism.”

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He said, “We need to take stern action to avenge the barbarism that terrorists and the Pakistan Army have been carrying out. Yes, it’s time to give it back to them in the same coin, not resorting to similar kind of barbarism. But I think the other side must also feel the same pain.

Khan on Saturday expressed his disappointment over India’s rejection to his call for resumption of the “peace dialogue” and termed the move “arrogant and negative”. In a veiled reference to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Khan said “small men” were occupying big offices in India who didn’t not have the “vision to see the larger picture”.

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 “Disappointed at the arrogant & negative response by India to my call for resumption of the peace dialogue. However, all my life I have come across small men occupying big offices who do not have the vision to see the larger picture,” Khan wrote on Twitter.

The Pakistani prime minister had written to Modi seeking a meeting between the foreign ministers of India and Pakistan on the side lines of United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) session later this month.

When asked about the buying of new weapons, the Army Chief was quoted as saying, “We continuously need modern weapons. There is a limit till which we can use a particular weapon, and as new technologies come, we also want them to be included in our forces. So buying of weapons continue.”

On being asked about the Army being used in political campaigns, General Rawat was quick to say that he didn’t want to comment on any political issue, adding that, “But I'll like to say that we're getting full cooperation. We're given freedom on how to carry out our operations. And you can see its effect in Kashmir the North-east.”