Chief of the Army Staff General M.M. Naravane on Thursday said there was no room to lower guard, given the mistrust with Pakistan, and any troop reduction in Jammu and Kashmir was subject to improvement in the ground situation.
“There can be no room to drop guard as far as security is concerned. There have been decades of mistrust with Pakistan. If ceasefire violations continue, we are alert. We cannot in anyway reduce alert and preparedness [in J&K],” Gen. Naravane said during an interaction with selected TV channels in Srinagar.
The Army Chief, who met top Army brass here to review the security, said any troop reduction in J&K “would depend on the ground situation and threat perception”.
“A ceasefire is in place. This is a dynamic process depending on the threat perceptions. If the situation permits, then we do pull out troops from active deployments,” he was quoted as saying by a TV channel.
‘Sense of normalcy’
The situation had shown improvement in Kashmir. “There have been a very few militant activities, pelting of stones. It indicates a sense of normalcy. People also want same and it’s happy thing. After a long time, we have reached to the level where peace prevails. My message to youth is if there is peace, we can have development. Shun this path or violence and embrace the future,” he said.
The onus was also on Pakistan to reduce their activities. “For peace in the Valley, the onus lies on the militant groups and sympathisers. We are doing all possible things for peace,” he asserted. The Army was also prepared to help organise the upcoming Amarnath yatra, he added.
