Citing ‘talks and terrorism can’t go hand-in-hand’, Army Chief Bipin Rawat backs govt’s decision to call off dialogue with Pakistan

New Delhi, September 24: With India’s decision of calling off the dialogue with Pakistan, Army Chief General Bipin Rawat backed to not initiate any dialogue with Pakistan, asserting that “talks and terrorism can’t go hand-in-hand”.

India took the decision on Friday by calling off a meeting between the foreign ministers of India and Pakistan in New York, citing the brutal killings of three policemen in Jammu and Kashmir and Islamabad releasing postage stamps “glorifying” Kashmiri militant Burhan Wani.

Addressing the media, General Bipin Rawat said that India’s policy has been quite clear and concise. India has made no bones about the fact that talks and terrorism can’t go hand-in-hand. Pakistan needs to curb the menace of terrorism.

He further added saying, “The government’s policy is very clear-cut… You (Pakistan) show us some initiatives so that we feel that you are not encouraging terrorism. But we see that terror activities are continuing and terrorists come from the other side of the border. In such an atmosphere, whether talks can be initiated that the government can only decide. I agree with the government’s decision that peace talks and terrorism cannot go together.”

Infiltration from across the border persists despite the call for a ceasefire by Pakistan, said Rawat stressing that this cannot be allowed that this cannot be allowed to continue and appropriate action has to be taken to deter terrorists from disrupting the peace in the valley.

A BSF patrolling party was fired upon by forces from across the Pakistan border on September 20, in which a jawan was killed. The head constable rank jawan was suspected to have been hit by a fatal sniper shot from across the border. His body was recovered in a mutilated condition later.