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AGENCIES / CHENNAI

Chief of Army Staff General Bipin Rawat has said, terror modules in Balakot are known to have been reactivated and that Indian Defence Forces are always ready to face any hostile situation.

Talking to media persons here on the sidelines of a programme at the Officers Training Academy to launch the Young Leaders Training Wing, he said, Balakot terror camps had been destroyed by Indian Air Force earlier, but they have been reactivated recently.

When asked if there would be a repeat of the anti-terror air operation, he asked, why the same action should be repeated, why not go beyond that. He, however added, let the enemies keep guessing as to what India would do next.

General Rawat said, Pakistan is violating the ceasefire agreement to push terrorists in to India. He said, there is information that about five hundred terrorists from across the border are trying to infiltrate into India.

However, he asserted that Indian Army knows how to deal with ceasefire violations and added the army is and would ensure that maximum infiltration bids are averted.

General Bipin Rawat further said, there is no clamp down in Jammu and Kashmir. He said, only the communication lines of terrorists with their handlers in the Western neighbour have been disrupted. He reiterated that there is no restriction in telephone links for the common public.

He assured that the pressure on the people there would be gradually eased. He said people cannot get food and water if there were clamp down for two months, but chimneys in Jammu and Kashmir are alive and activities in brick kilns and the Jhelum river are as good as anytime in the past. He said the perception of a clamp down in Jammu and Kashmir has been attempted to be created by terrorists.

Army Chief General Bipin Rawat has said, differing perceptions on the Line of Actual Control between India and China sometimes lead to border transgressions, though the situation is being handled effectively not to allow it to escalate into a border tension. He spoke to the media in Chennai this morning, on the sidelines of a programme to launch the Army’s Young Leaders Training Wing in the Officers Training Academy.

General Bipin Rawat said, there are mechanisms in the two Armies to deal with such incidents to diffuse the situation. He said it is working well, especially after the Wuhan Summit between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Chinese counterpart. He added, both the sides at the level of the border commands talk to each other with the aim of de-escalating tensions whenever such situations arise.

General Bipin Rawat today launched the Army’s Young Leaders Training Wing in the Officers Training Academy in Chennai today.

It is aimed at imparting training for the Non-Commissioned Officers and Junior Commissioned Officers of the Defence Force to face the Service Selection Board interview so that they could get inducted as Commissioned Officers.

This is the first time such a training module has been launched in the Army. Selection for the training is based on a qualifying test on an All India basis. In the first batch, 200 jawans have been selected for the training.