New Delhi, Jan 29: Calling for a long-term vision with regards to the problem of Jammu and Kashmir, Chief of Army Staff General V K Singh has said a holistic view with “focus and resolve” were key to the issue, and forces reduction was not an option as of now.
“Jammu and Kashmir is a complicated set of things.
There has to be a holistic view on what we do there. We have to take a very different view for the long term. Don’t take decisions for the sake of expediency for a certain purpose. You have to have focus and resolve, and the government should put some people on the job,” he told a news channel.
Reiterating the Army’s stand, he said forces withdrawal was not an option at this time, adding, “The day the 42 camps on the other side are wound up, and Pakistan stops its proxy war, that would be the time to withdraw our troops. Until that time, it is not possible. J&K is not about mathematics. We have to be pragmatic about troop reductions.”
Pointing that it was impossible for these camps in Pakistan to function without official support and complicity, Gen Singh said, however, it was in India’s diplomatic interest that a dialogue process with Pakistan was kept alive.
Warning against the prevalent undercurrents in the border state that was ideology focussed, the Army chief said ignoring the ideology being preached in the Kashmir valley would be at one’s own peril.
“We must look very closely at the ideology being preached. What are we doing to counter this ideology? Are the mainstream political parties doing anything about it?” he asked adding that while the Army was all for political endeavours, the entire approach to the issue required new thinking.
Asked to comment on the recent ‘Rashtriya Ekta Yatra’ of the BJP’s youth wing, Gen Singh said there were shades of political scapes which have little relevance to the Army.
“These are political wrangling and political games which don’t concern the Army,” he said and added, “There has been a lot of noise about the issue.”

Lastupdate on : Sat, 29 Jan 2011 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Sat, 29 Jan 2011 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Sun, 30 Jan 2011 00:00:00 IST