Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat giving a memento of Kedarnath Temple to Army Chief Bipin Rawat in Dehradun on Friday. PTI

Dehradun, June 10

Youths in Jammu and Kashmir are being misinformed and misguided by forces inimical to peace, Army Chief General Bipin Rawat said on Saturday.Security forces had to devise ways to counter this, he said, while addressing gentlemen cadets at the prestigious Indian Military Academy here.

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Rawat said terrorism was the biggest challenge in front of the country as he urged the cadets to gear up to grapple with the scourge.The Army chief presided over a colourful passing-out parade by 490 gentlemen cadets on the completion of their course.He said it was time they put the lessons of valour and military skills learnt at the academy to the service of the nation.The Army chief, himself an alumnus of the IMA, said the academy imparted the best training to its cadets which matched up to international standards.Earlier, the immaculately turned-out cadets put up a well-synchronised parade before Rawat at the academy’s famous tarmac drill square with the historic Chetwode Building in the background.As the passing-out parade started two army choppers flew over the drill square to shower rose petals on the tarmac, carpeting it with flowers.The 490 cadets who passed out include 67 cadets from friendly countries. Uttar Pradesh accounts for the highest number of cadets with 74, followed by Haryana 49, Uttarakhand 40, Rajasthan 30, Bihar 28 and Delhi with 23.Later, speaking to reporters, Rawat said women needed to be given combat roles in the army as terrorists often used women as shields. PTI