‘Army is Always Ready’, Says General Bipin Rawat Days After Union Minister Jitendra Singh’s Remark on PoK | Watch

The Army Chief's statement comes just days after Union Minister Jitendra Singh that the government's next agenda was to make PoK a territory of India

New Delhi: Army Chief Bipin Rawat on Thursday said that the force was ‘ready for any scenario’ in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK). The Army Chief’s statement comes just days after Union Minister Jitendra Singh that the government’s next agenda was to make PoK a territory of India.

Speaking to news agency ANI, General Rawat said, “The government will decide on such matters. Institutions of the country will work as per the government’s orders. The Army is always ready.”

#WATCH Army Chief, General Bipin Rawat on Union Minister Jitendra Singh's statement, “Next agenda is retrieving PoK & making it a part of India”: Govt takes action in such matters. Institutions of the country will work as per the orders of the govt. Army is always ready. pic.twitter.com/RUS0eHhBXB

— ANI (@ANI) September 12, 2019

The Army Chief also said that people of Jammu and Kashmir should help the Army in maintaining peace and security in the region. He further said that having seen the worst of terrorism for years, they should now let the government try and bring peace and development in the region.

Earlier, speaking at an event on Tuesday, Jitendra Singh, the Minister of State in the Prime MInister’s Office (PMO) had said, “The next agenda is to retrieve the PoK and make it a territory of India. Besides being my party’s commitment, this was also a part of a unanimously passed resolution by the Parliament in 1994, under the Congress government led by PV Narasimha Rao.

India and Pakistan have been at loggerheads since August 5 when the former revoked Article 370 of its Constitution, thus scrapping the special status of Jammu and Kashmir and further bifurcating it into union two separate territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.

The two countries have also clashed at the ongoing 42nd session of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) where Pakistan blamed India for committing ‘atrocities’ in the Valley. India, however, hit back and accused Islamabad of spreading false narratives on Jammu and Kashmir.