NEW DELHI – Indian Army Chief General Bipin Rawat said Friday the force wasready to call Pakistan’s “nuclear bluff” and cross the border to carry outany operation if asked by the government, Hindustan Times has reported.

“We will call the (nuclear) bluff of Pakistan. If we will have to reallyconfront the Pakistanis, and a task is given to us, we are not going to saywe cannot cross the border because they have nuclear weapons. We will haveto call their nuclear bluff,” Gen. Rawat said.

He was responding to a question during a press conference on possibility ofPakistan using its nuclear weapons in case the situation along the borderdeteriorates.

In reply to another question, he said India and the US were deliberating ona proposal to appoint military liaison officers at each other’s combatantcommands.

“We are examining various dimensions of the proposal,” he said.