Press Trust of India

Talks in JK only on govt’s conditions: Army Chief

Talks in JK only on govt’s conditions: Army Chief
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Says shunning of violence must for any engagement

New Delhi: A day after supporting talks with Taliban, Army Chief Gen. Bipin Rawat said the same approach cannot be applied to Jammu and Kashmir, asserting that talks and terror cannot go together and that any engagement with militant groups in the state will be strictly on the basis of conditions set by the government.
The Army Chief also said that Pakistan’s hostilities towards India along the border in J&K have not come down after Imran Khan came to power, adding the Pakistani leader was only talking about peace and not doing anything to improve the situation on the ground.
Gen. Rawat, addressing a press conference ahead of Army Day on January 15, also said over 300 militants are waiting along the border in Kashmir to infiltrate, but added his forces are ready foil their attempts.
“The government is adopting a hard and soft power approach in dealing with Kashmir…We are only facilitators for peace in J&K,” he said.
Referring to a number of countries engaging in talks with Taliban, the Army Chief said India should not be out of the bandwagon as it has “interests” in Afghanistan.
“Same analogy cannot be applied to J&K. It is a bilateral issue between us and our western neighbour. There is no place for any third party intervention. Here if we have to talk, we have to talk based on our terms and conditions,” said Gen. Rawat in his annual press conference.
In his address at the Raisina Dialogue on Wednesday, Gen. Rawat backed dialogue with the Taliban in Afghanistan.
“It is not one size fix all. You have to see your national interests, where you have different national interests, you take a different line,” he added.
The Army Chief was asked about his comments on Wednesday backing talks with Taliban and whether he would support engaging Hurriyat Conference and other separatist groups in Kashmir.
“We are saying talks and terror cannot happen together. It is not only just applicable to our western neighbour, it is applicable to Jammu and Kashmir also. You cannot keep killing security personnel and say we are ready for talks,” said the Army Chief.
“Talks can only happen if you give up violence,” he added.
The Army Chief also said success in Jammu and Kashmir should not be measured by number of terrorists being killed and that people of the state were beginning to understand that violence was not the way forward.
He said of local youths joining militancy in Kashmir was linked to intensity of propaganda and was not related to killing of terrorists by security forces.
He said funeral processions of terrorists and conferring martyr status to them by Tanjims had encouraged youths to join the groups, adding the Army has limited the processions which has shown positive results.
“We have now started curtailing these (funeral processions). The now of people allowed to join the funeral processions have started gradually coming down. We are trying to control the crowd,” he said.
The Army Chief said people of Jammu and Kashmir were beginning to realise the futility of violence.
“Youths in Kashmir are immensely terrorised by militant groups and Tanjims,” he said.
Gen. Bipin Rawat also said that gay sex and adultery will not be allowed in the Indian Army, months after the Supreme Court decriminalised homosexuality and struck down a colonial-era adultery law.
“In the Army, it is not acceptable,” he told a press conference while replying to a question on impact of the Supreme Court’s two historic verdicts.
The Army Chief said though his force is not above the law, it will not be possible to allow gay sex and adultery in the Army.
“The Army is conservative. The Army is a family. We cannot allow this to perpetrate into the Army,” he said on adultery, adding soldiers and officers deployed along the borders cannot be allowed to be worried about their family.
The conduct of the Army personnel is governed by the Army Act.
“In the Army we never thought this can happen. Anything that was thought of was put in the Army Act. It was something which was unheard of when the Army Act was made. We never thought this is going to happen. We never allow it. Therefore it was not put in the Army Act,” he said.
He further said, “I think anything what is being said or talked about will not be allowed to happen in the Indian Army.”
At the same time Gen. Rawat said the Army is not above the law and that the Supreme Court is the highest judicial body of the country. (PTI)


Press Trust of India

Press Trust of India is lead news agency of India

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