New Delhi: Chief of Army Staff General MM Naravane on Saturday said that he did not rule out the possibility of Afghan-origin terrorists attempting to infiltrate into Jammu and Kashmir once the situation stabilises in Afghanistan.
He cited similar instances when the Taliban was in power in Kabul over two decades ago, news agency PTI reported.
General MM Naravane assured that Indian armed forces are prepared to deal with any eventuality as they have a very strong counter-infiltration grid along with a mechanism to check terrorist activities in the hinterland in Jammu and Kashmir.
When asked if there was any link between the spate of recent targeted killings in Kashmir and the Taliban’s capture of power in Afghanistan, he replied: “Definitely, there has been a spurt in activities (in Jammu and Kashmir) but whether they can be directly linked to what is happening in or happened in Afghanistan, we really cannot say”.
“But what we can say and learn from the past is that when the previous Taliban regime was in power, that time definitely we had foreign terrorists of Afghan origin in Jammu and Kashmir,” he said, as quoted by PTI.
“So there are reasons to believe that the same thing might happen once again that once the situation in Afghanistan stabilises, then we could see an inflow of these fighters from Afghanistan to Jammu and Kashmir,” he added.
Talking about Indian armed forces’ preparedness, General MM Naravane assured that they are fully ready to deal with any such attempts.
“We are prepared for any such eventuality. We have a very strong counter-infiltration grid to stop them at the border. We have a very strong counter-terrorism grid in the hinterland to take care of any such actions. Just as we dealt with them in the early 2000s, we will deal with them now also should they venture anywhere near us,” he said.
After the Taliban’s return to power in Afghanistan, there have been increasing concerns in the Indian security establishment over the possibility of terror spillover from the war-torn country into Jammu and Kashmir through Pakistan.
The rise in terrorist activities, particularly by groups such as Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed, has not been ruled out.
The Army Chief termed the targeted killings of civilians in Jammu and Kashmir as a matter of “concern”, describing it as “reprehensible”.
“They do not want normalcy. It is a last-ditch attempt to stay relevant,” he said in reference to the militant groups.
“The people will revolt. If they (militants) say that they are doing all these for the people, then why you are killing your own people who are your support base. It is just an attempt to spread terror which is totally unacceptable," Gen Naravane said, as quoted by PTI.
He also said that the ceasefire agreement between India and Pakistan was observed in “totality” for four months from February.
“But from the end of July onwards to September and now the beginning of October, the sporadic incidents have again started. I think again, it is following the pattern of 2003 when it would start with one odd incident and rising to as good as not having a ceasefire,” he added, expressing his concerns.
“Over the last month or so, we are again seeing renewed attempts at infiltration. We have eliminated two or three such infiltration attempts,” he infomed.
In a significant move to reduce tensions, the Indian and Pakistani armies on February 25, 2021 announced that they would cease firing across the LoC, recommitting themselves to a 2003 ceasefire agreement.
Informing about the recent violations, Gen Naravane said that “Apart from the infiltration bids, there have been three incidents of proper ceasefire violations, that is one post firing at the other post”.
(With Agency Inputs)