India reserves the right to “preemptively strike” at sources of terror – Gen Manoj Mukund Naravane , New Army Chief

Picture : Twitter / ANI

The new Army Chief Gen Manoj Mukund Naravane has said India reserves the right to “preemptively strike” at sources of terror, asserting that a “new normal” in the country’s response mechanism to acts of cross-border terrorism has already been “emphatically” displayed. This comment is widely seen as a warning to Pakistan.

In an exclusive interview to PTI barely hours after taking charge of the 1.3-million strong force, Gen Naravane also said the Army will enhance combat capabilities along the border with China so that it is fully prepared to deal with any security challenge.

“The threat remains from both northern and western sides. Over the last many years, we have been concentrating on our western borders while our northern border was at a little lower in priority. There was a need to rebalance and reprioritise,” he said.

Giving a detailed brief on India’s security challenges, including combating cross-border terrorism, Gen Naravane said a strategy of “resolute punitive response” was put in place to deal with Pakistan-sponsored terrorism, noting that the policy of “zero tolerance” will continue to drive counter-terror measures.

“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.

“A new normal in our response mechanism has been emphatically underlined,” he added.

Talking about the situation in Kashmir, Gen Naravane said it has improved significantly after abrogation of Article 370.

“Incidents of violence are coming down.The terrorists-initiated actions have come down. There is no doubt that there is a lot of improvement,” the 28th Chief of Army Staff said.