Army Chief Manoj Mukund Naravane wants Pak to make peace with scrapping of Article 370 in J&K

New Delhi, Jan 03: The new Indian Army chief Manoj Mukund Naravane on Thursday advised the neighbouring nation to make peace with India's decision of scrapping the Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir. He said that the abrogation of Article 370 came as a rude shock to Pakistan, and advised Pakistan that the clock cannot be turned back so if once Islamabad accepts the reality, there will be less ceasefire violations.

He said that the abrogation of Article 370 came as a rude shock to the neighbours (Pakistan).

Regarding the time frame before the situation could completely normalise in the valley, the Army chief said that putting a particular period would be difficult but efforts have been put to win hearts and minds of the people, and this would be successful soon.

In an exclusive interview to PTI barely hours after taking charge of the 1.3-million-strong force, Army Chief Gen Manoj Mukund Naravane on Tuesday said India reserves the right to "preemptively strike" at sources of terror. He asserted that a "new normal" in the country's response mechanism to acts of cross-border terrorism has already been "emphatically" displayed.

In a stern warning to Islamabad, the Army Chief said that if Pakistan does not stop its policy of state-sponsored terrorism, just like the surgical strikes and Balakot operation that were adequately been demonstrated before in retaliation India would again reserve the right to pre-emptively strike at the sources of the terror threat.

However, responding to the Army Chief's remarks, the Pakistan Foreign Office in a statement said that they reject the new Indian Army Chief's irresponsible statement regarding pre-emptive strikes across the LoC inside Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).

Manoj Mukund Naravane took charge as the Chief of Army Staff, succeeding General Bipin Rawat on Tuesday. Before this General Naravane served as vice chief of the Army.