NEW DELHI: India since 2014 has been “assertive” in its communication to Pakistan and “they have understood that we mean business”, Army chief General Upendra Dwivedi said on Wednesday, while also expressing “concern” over reports that a Pak Army-ISI delegation recently visited areas in Bangladesh close to ‘Chicken’s Neck’ or the Siliguri Corridor in West Bengal.
Gen Dwivedi also said India and China are now looking at how they both can reduce the massive number of troops deployed along the Line of Actual Control after the disengagement at Depsang and Demchok in eastern Ladakh last Oct, while reiterating all corps commanders have been “empowered” to resolve minor issues related to patrolling and grazing so that they do not “escalate into violence”.
In the backdrop of defence minister Rajnath Singh earlier this month refuting Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s claim that the Army chief had stated Chinese troops were present inside Indian territory, Gen Dwivedi, during a podcast with ANI, said the armed forces should not be dragged into political controversies. Singh had accused Gandhi of misquoting the Army chief and indulging in “irresponsible politics” on matters of national security. Gen Dwivedi, on his part, said, “I think the political answer has been given by the Raksha Mantri (Singh). But the thing which I learnt is that it’s important that I must make an endeavour that the Army should not be involved in politics.”
On the Pakistan front, the Army chief said the neighbour has been very clearly told that the entire J&K is “an integral part of India”, with the reading down of Article 370 in Aug 2019. “There is no compromise with this,” he said, noting that the number of “local people” being recruited as terrorists in J&K has significantly gone down, people no longer have “confusion” over their identity and the theme of ensuring the move from “terrorism to tourism” was working well on the ground.
“India has said very clearly that we will be assertive in our communication (to Pakistan). And if required, we can be aggressive also. So, if you force us, then we will be aggressive enough to communicate our intent,” he said. Asked about last month’s visit of the Pak Army-ISI delegation to Rangpur in Bangladesh, which is close to the Siliguri Corridor in Bengal, Dwivedi said, “I had used the word epicentre of terrorism for a particular country (Pakistan). Now those countrymen, if they go to any other place and they happen to be our neighbour, as far as I am concerned, I should be concerned about it..” The Army chief had earlier said India and Bangladesh consider each other “strategically important” neighbours and any kind of “animosity” between the two countries is not in the interest of either. The relationship between the two militaries is “very strong” and “we are able to exchange notes whenever we want,” he said.