Kashmir: Appointment of interlocutor won’t affect our operations, says Army Chief Gen Bipin Rawat

Army Chief General Bipin Rawat (File Photo)

Army Chief Bipin Rawat on Wednesday said the appointment of an interlocutor for Jammu-Kashmir will not impact Army operations in the state. On Monday, the government announced that former IB director Dineshwar Sharma will lead talks with stakeholders in the insurgency-hit state.

“The government has appointed him. Let him work. His appointment is not going to affect Army Operations,” Rawat said, adding that “the situation (in the Valley) has improved with “infiltration on the decline”.

The Army Chief also said that the Union government’s strategy on Kashmir has worked and that India was negotiating from a point of strength.

Speaking to The Indian Express, Sharma said he would first go through the work done by previous interlocutors before he begins talks.

“I will go through the reports prepared by earlier committees and interlocutors to see what recommendations were made and what happened to them. I will look into all of this and meet the people of Kashmir. Only after that can I say how different this [special representative] can be.”