Surgical strikes a message to Pak, more if necessary: Army chief

TIL Desk/National/New Delhi/ Army chief Gen Bipin Rawat has said that surgical strikes on terror launch pads across the Line of Control could be repeated, if necessary, seeking to send a stern message to Pakistan.

He said cross-border infiltration will continue because camps across the Line of Control, from where terrorists are launched, are still operational, and warned that the Indian Army is ready to “receive” them and keep dispatching them to their graves.

“The strike was a message we wanted to communicate to them and they have understood what we mean…that things could follow up, if required,” Rawat said. He was speaking at the launch of a book ‘India’s Most Fearless’ authored by two defence journalists, Shiv Aroor and Rahul Singh.

The book chronicles personal accounts of soldiers and their valour in extreme and hostile conditions, including of officers who participated in the surgical strikes.

Later, responding to a question by reporters on infiltration attempts, Rawat said, “Terrorists will keep coming because the (terror) camps are operational there (across the LoC). Even we are ready. We will keep receiving them (infiltrators) to dispatch them two-and-a-half feet below the ground.”