Pakistan says Army Chief Gen Naravane’s comment on strikes across LoC reckless

In an interview to PTI after taking charge of the 1.3-million strong force, Army Chief Gen Naravane on Tuesday said India reserves the right to “preemptively strike” at sources of terror.

Pakistan has rejected India’s new Army Chief Gen Manoj Mukund Naravane’s statement that New Delhi reserves the right to “preemptively strike” across the Line of Control (LoC), terming his remarks as “irresponsible”.

Chief of Army Staff General Manoj Mukund Naravane (ANI Photo)

In an interview to PTI after taking charge of the 1.3-million strong force, Army Chief Gen 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.

Reacting to Gen Naravane’s remarks, the Pakistan Foreign Office in a statement on Wednesday said, “We reject the new Indian Army Chief’s irresponsible statement regarding ‘pre-emptive strikes’ across the LoC .”