New Delhi: Claiming that abrogation of Article 370 came as a 'rude shock' to Pakistan, Army chief Manoj Mukund Naravane on Thursday advised neighbours to make peace with India's decision and said that the clock cannot be turned back. He added that once Islamabad accepts reality, there will be reduction in ceasefire violations.
"The violations have seen a spurt since August last year for obvious reasons. The abrogation of Article 370 came as a rude shock to our neighbours. They are trying to show that they have a stake in whatever is going on, and that is the reason for the spike in violations. Pakistan cannot sustain this for too long, realisation will don that this is a done deal and the clock cannot be turned back. Once they realise this, there will be a reduction in such ceasefire violations," Naravane said in an interview to CNN-News18.
When asked about a time frame before situation could completely normalise in Kashmir, the Army chief said that putting a definitive period was difficult but efforts were on by the force to "win hearts and minds of the people, and there would soon be fair degree of success and impact".
Further talking to News18, the Army chief reiterated that air and ground strike options on terror targets were always open. "We have been dealing with terrorism for a number of years. We are geared up and capable of handling any incident that happens. Any response to such incidents is a matter that is to be seen in the future," he added.
The Army chief's remark came despite Pakistan earlier calling his comment "irresponsible". Naravane had said on Tuesday that India reserves the right to "preemptively strike" at sources of terror. He asserted that a "new normal" in the country's response mechanism to acts of cross-border terrorism has already been "emphatically" displayed.
"If Pakistan does not stop its policy of state-sponsored terrorism, we reserve the right to preemptively strike at the sources of terror threat and this intent has adequately been demonstrated in our response during surgical strikes and Balakot operation," the Army Chief said in New Delhi, in a stern warning to Islamabad.
Reacting to Gen Naravane's remarks, the Pakistan Foreign Office in a statement said, "We reject the new Indian Army Chief's irresponsible statement regarding 'pre-emptive strikes' across the LoC" inside Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).
Naravane's took charge on Tuesday as the Chief of Army Staff, succeeding General Bipin Rawat. General Naravane served as vice chief of the Army before taking charge of the 1.3 million strong Army.
In his 37 years of service, General Naravane served in numerous command and staff appointments in peace, field and highly active counter-insurgency environments in Jammu and Kashmir and the Northeast.
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