Towing US General, Indian Army chief beats the drum about Jihadi elements in Pakistan
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PUNE: Indian Army Chief General Bipin Rawat on Sunday expressed concern over the alleged presence of jihadi outfits in Pakistan with fundamentalist ideologies, reports the Times of India.
“Pakistan’s unabated reliance and support to jihadi groups has serious ramifications. This can lead to the possibility of Pakistan being a conduit for eastward spread of fundamentalist and Islamic ideology. This lends a complex dimension to the threat not only for us, but also for other countries of South and East Asia, including China,” General Rawat added.
General Rawat was in the city to deliver General B C Joshi Memorial Lecture, titled, “India’s challenges in the current geo-strategic construct”, at the Savitribai Phule Pune University.Army Commander Southern Command Lt Gen P M Hariz, Pune University Vice-Chancellor Nitin Karmalkar, former army chief V P Malik, former air force chief P V Naik as well as senior serving and retired officers were also present on the occasion.
The army chief said China continued to enhance influence in the regional security environment. “It is doing so by increasing defence/economic partnerships in the neighbourhood, especially in Pakistan, the Maldives, Sri Lanka and Myanmar. The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor passing through Pakistan-administered Kashmir challenges India’s sovereignty,” General Rawat said.
The army chief said the Indian Army would take all actions necessary to negate, mitigate and destroy elements involved in planning or taking actions inimical to India’s security interests.
