- Making it clear that the Indian army is well prepared to undertake any given task at any point of time, Army chief Bipin Rawat stated that ‘he doesn’t need to give any message for his counterpart (Pakistan Army chief)’
- Another major topic which General Rawat spoke about during the interview was the kind of reply which India may give to Pakistan for the barbaric acts they have been committing at the border in recent times
Making it clear that the Indian army is well prepared to undertake any given task at any point of time, Army chief Bipin Rawat, in an exclusive with Republic TV, stated that ‘he doesn’t need to give any message for his counterpart (Pakistan Army chief)’.
On the matter of the kind of message he intends to deliver to General Qamar Jawed Bajwa, the Chief of Army Staff said, “I don’t think I need to give any message (to General Bajwa). I need to give a message only to my army, and the message, which I’ve given to my army from day one is we have to always be prepared for any task that is entrusted to us by the government. And we will undertake any task, anytime and anywhere.”
Another major topic which General Rawat spoke about during the interview was the kind of reply which India may give to Pakistan for the barbaric acts they have been committing at the border in recent times.
“I have said there are options available, and what options can be undertaken are always planned and the execution when necessitated will be done. These kind of barbaric acts which are carried out by the terrorists are completely supported by the Pakistani Army and the ISI.
“When the time come they’ll be punished, but not in the same manner, I mean if the Indian army ever punishes or the security forces ever punish, we do not carry out such barbaric acts. We are a very professional army. All acts that we conduct or any actions that we take are completely within the framework of Geneva conventions,” he added.
Further divulging into the topic of elections in J&K, the COAS said, “We would like the elections to happen as it is for the benefit of the people. On the one hand, the local population has been complaining about the governance of Kashmir and has been talking about unemployment, lack of job opportunities, they have been talking about development. If the panchayat elections go through, then all these issues will be addressed because the power devolves to the people, jobs will be available and development activity according to the wishes of people can continue in the valley, in the Kashmir valley.”