Indian Army Chief Wants Another Surgical Strike Against Pakistan

Says surgical strike is a weapon of surprise. Let it remain a surprise.

Islamabad (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News – 24th September, 2018) Indian Army Chief General Bipin Rawat has said that India needs to launch another surgical strike against Pakistan.

"As long as the Pakistan government can't control its Army and the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), the situation at the border won't improve," General Rawat told Indian media.

"Targeting policemen shows the terrorists' frustration," he said.

On Sunday, the Indian army chief said that surgical strikes are a weapon of surprise, and should remain one.

Responding to a question whether India whether India will send its forces for another surgical strike in Pakistan like the one carried out in 2016, he said: "Surgical strike is a weapon of surprise. Let it remain a surprise."

Lashing out at Pakistan for trouble in Kashmir, General Rawat also said that it only wants to bleed India with a thousand cuts.

"Pakistan wants these types of trouble (violence) to continue in Kashmir. They want that peace shouldn't return in this area. They're trying to radicalise the youth of Kashmir. Pakistan has decided to bleed India with a thousand cuts," he said in the interview.

General Rawat also backed the Indian government's decision to call off dialogue with Pakistan, asserting that talks and terror cannot go together.

The Indian government had on Friday called off a meeting between the foreign ministers of India and Pakistan in New York, citing the brutal killings of three policemen in Jammu and Kashmir and Islamabad releasing postage stamps "glorifying" Kashmiri militant Burhan Wani.

Prime Minister Imran Khan had responded to Indian government's decision, saying that he is disappointed at the ‘arrogant’ and ‘negative’ response by the Indian side to his offer to restore dialogue between the two countries.

In a tweet on Saturday, the prime minister expressed his disappointment after India rejected to hold talks at foreign minister level on the sidelines of 73^rd United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) session.

Taking a dig at Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, PM Imran said that all my life I have come across small men occupying big offices who do not have the vision to see the larger picture.

“Disappointed at the arrogant & negative response by India to my call for resumption of the peace dialogue. However, all my life I have come across small men occupying big offices who do not have the vision to see the larger picture,” he wrote in his tweet.

PM Imran has on Thursday written a letter to his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi and called for a resumption of dialogue between the two countries.

He had also proposed a meeting between the foreign ministers of the two countries on the sidelines of the 73rd UNGA session.

Hours after reports circulated regarding PM Imran's letter to Modi, Indian Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Raveesh Kumar confirmed that Shah Mehmood Qureshi and Sushma Swaraj would meet on the sidelines of the UNGA.

However, on Friday, the Indian MEA spokesperson announced the cancellation of the meeting.