New Delhi, December 10, 2018 (PPI-OT):General Officer Commanding (GoC), of Indian Army’s 15 Corps, Lieutenant General A K Bhatt while stressing the need for talks with the Kashmiri people for finding out a political solution to the Kashmir dispute has admitted that the military can only have a limited role.
Lt Gen Bhatt in an interview to a Delhi-based newspaper said, “With solutions critical for resolving the larger Kashmir issue lying in the realm of politics – good governance and political engagement as witnessed during the Vajpayee years.”
He said, “The military can only create conditions of normalcy. Beyond that, the initiatives have to be at levels of good governance, politically talking to people. During the Vajpayee era, it has happened, and similar initiatives the government will take at the right moment. I am sure they will.”
About the Army’s role, Bhatt said, it was to ensure that peace was maintained. “Of course long-term solutions, the government has to look at them.” Admitting that different people could have different interpretations about what a political solution should comprise, he said, “I don’t want to get into that realm because it not mine.”
The Indian general acknowledged widespread support for the Kashmir’s freedom struggle. He said, The other worry for the Army has been “larger number of local recruitments. It has gone down in the last two months. But in the early months of April, May and June, this slightly increased. That is why, despite us neutralising about 200 militants, the number is still the same.”
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