Army ready for stronger action: Bipin Rawat

New Delhi: In a blunt message to Pakistan on Monday, Army Chief General Bipin Rawat said the Army was ready to escalate its offensive against Pak-backed terror groups if forced to do so even as he asserted that no anti-India activities will be allowed to succeed in Jammu and Kashmir.

The Army Chief, in his address to Army personnel on the occasion of Army Day, said the Pakistani Army has been actively trying to aid terrorists sneak into India along Line of Control (LoC) in J&K. “We will not let these anti-national elements to succeed at any cost. If we are forced, then we may escalate our military action and carry out (the) ‘other action’,” he said adding that the Army is using its might to “teach them a lesson.”

“Terrorists and their handlers are creating various challenges within the country by adopting new tactics,” he said.

“Targeting of Amarnath pilgrims, attacking policemen and Army personnel from Jammu and Kashmir, including murder of Lt Ummer Fayaz, were attempts to attack national unity and divide the society,” Gen. Rawat added.

He said the Army was working closely with other security forces to maintain pressure on terrorists.

For more than a year, in a major shift in the counter insurgency tactics to toughen the rules of engagement in Kashmir, the Indian Army has operated in a “seek and engage” mode and brought back the Cordon and Search Operations (CASO) operations that were abandoned in 2002 after a public hue and cry over rights violations.

The change in tactics was necessitated because militants were believed to be hiding among the civilian populace and using them as human shields while many civilians have been found to be harbouring militants.

At the same time, the Army has been forcefully responding to all ceasefire violations by Pakistani troops along the Line of Control with a tit-for-tat approach.