Bad weather cuts short army chief's J&K visit

Indian Army chief, Gen. Bipin Rawat on Friday cut short his three-day long maiden visit to Jammu and Kashmir due to bad weather, defence sources said.

Rawat was scheduled to visit the Siachen glacier, Leh district, the Line of Control (LoC) in Baramulla and Kupwara districts and counter-insurgency formations in Anantnag district.

"Due to bad weather, the Chief of Army Staff had to cut short his visit and fly back to New Delhi today," defence sources told IANS in winter capital Jammu today.

Rawat, who landed here on Thursday, had reviewed the overall security situation along the borders at the Udhampur headquarters of the Northern Command yesterday.

Northern command chief Lt Gen Devraj Anbu had briefed him on the security situation along the borders and the hinterland in the state.

The army chief had also visited the Nagrota headquarters of the White Knights Corps, and on Friday, visited the LoC in Akhnoor sector of Jammu district.

The defence sources said during his visit to the LoC, Rawat commended the soldiers for strongly reciprocating to the unprovoked ceasefire violations by Pakistan.

While interacting with the field commanders, the army chief said that they need "to evolve a dynamic strategy to handle the proxy war and defeat enemy's nefarious designs in Jammu and Kashmir".

He had also told the soldiers that every one of them plays an important role towards security of the nation because it is the contribution of every soldier that makes the army efficient and strong, the sources said.

--IANS

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