COAS visits forward areas on IB
Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Mar 3: Army chief Gen Bipin Rawat today declared that Army was ready to thwart nefarious designs of Pakistan and militants and handle any kind of situation effectively. He stated this during high-level review of operational preparedness of the troops along the International Border in Jammu, Samba and Kathua districts.
Gen Rawat had reviewed situation along Line of Control (LoC) in Rajouri and Poonch districts yesterday and today he had detailed assessment of the scenario along the International Border with General Officer Commanding (GOC), Rising Star Corps, Lt Gen JS Nain.
Without naming Pakistan or militants, the Army chief declared that the troops were well prepared to thwart any nefarious designs of enemies of the country and handle any situation. He said the troops were in high state of moral and preparedness.
His statement assumed significance in the wake of heightened tension between Indo-Pak troops on the LoC in view of heavy shelling and firing including use of artillery by both the sides in which Pakistan has suffered heavy losses while four civilians were killed and some others were injured in Poonch district.
Jammu, Samba and Kathua districts, which shared International Border with Pakistan fall under the jurisdiction of Rising Star Corps, which has been headquartered at Yol Cantonment in Kangra district of Himachal Pradesh.
The Border Security Force (BSF) guards the International Border on the Indian side and Rangers in the Pakistan side.
Gen Rawat visited various forward locations of Samba and Ratnuchak in Jammu region to review the operational deployment and preparedness. He interacted with Army Commanders and soldiers at various places to boost their morale. He was briefed about the situation and preparedness by Lt Gen J S Nain.
Gen Rawat expressed complete confidence in capabilities of the Indian Army to thwart any nefarious designs of enemies of the country and handle any situation and praised the high state of moral and preparedness of the troops.
The Chief of Army Staff arrived here on Saturday and visited the headquarters of White Knight Corps to review the operational preparedness of the forces in the Corps Zone in view of the current situation along the Line of Control (LoC) and the International Border (IB). Northern Army Commander Lt General Ranbir Singh also accompanied him.
During the visit, the COAS was briefed and updated by GOC White Knight Corps Lt Gen Paramjit Singh about the current operational situation, prevailing security scenario and the preparedness of the formation.
This was the first visit of the Army chief to the region after India’s pre-emptive strikes on Jaish-e-Mohammed’s terror camps at Balakote in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in Pakistan in which over 350 militants including top Commanders of the Army were killed followed by Pakistan air raid in Nowshera sector of Rajouri district in which the Indian Air Force (IAF) had shot down Pakistan’s fighter jet F-16 but lost one MiG.
Barring ceasefire violation in Nowshera sector of Rajouri district from 12.30 pm to 2.30 pm on Saturday, there were no reports of firing in the rest of the sectors of the LoC in twin border districts of Rajouri and Poonch since last evening, where more than 80 forward villages were targeted by Pakistan in over 50 ceasefire violations since Tuesday.
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