Belligerent Indian Army Chief suggests ‘another surgical strike’

NEW DELHI: Indian Army Chief General Bipin Rawat says that the situation at the border with Pakistan won’t improve unless the Pakistan government takes necessary measures.

Speaking to an Indian TV channel, the army chief said India needs to launch another surgical strike against terrorists.

Read: Senior Indian politicians rubbish Modi govt’s surgical strike claim

“As long as the Pakistan government can’t take measures, the situation at the border won’t improve,” General Rawat said.

Pakistan Army’s spokesman Major General Asif Ghafoor on Saturday responded to Bipin Rawat’s threatening statement,  saying that the country’s soldiers are ready to give a befitting reply to Indian misadventures.

“Pakistan is a nuclear-armed country and is ready to respond to Indian misadventures,” Director General Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) Major General Asif Ghafoor said in a statement.

The DG ISPR said that Pakistan has made it clear that it wants talks and peace in the region but it is India which runs away from talks each time. Terming the Indian COAS’s statement “irresponsible”, Asif Ghafoor said that his statement is aimed at sabotaging Pakistan’s efforts for peace in the region.

The Indian government called off a meeting that was to be held between the foreign ministers of India and Pakistan on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

Prime Minister Imran Khan proposed the meeting. He said he was disappointed by India’s decision, and described the response as “arrogant” and “negative”.

On September 29 in 2016, Indian army claimed to have crossed the Line of Control and destroyed terrorist launchpads, days after several Indian jawans were allegedly killed in a pre-dawn attack on the Army headquarters in Uri.

However, Pakistan categorically rejected the Indian claims and said the country’s security forces would have given a befitting reply had the Indian forces dared to cross the border line.