Army doing a 'commendable' job in Kashmir: V K Singh

Former Army Chief V K Singh today said the military is doing a "commendable" job in Kashmir, noting that while the security forces are fulfilling their duty, other organs of the state should also contribute their lot for restoring sustained normalcy in the Valley.
Singh, in an interaction with community radio channel 'Radio Sirsa', said it is because of the security forces that infiltration and terror-related incidents have "significantly" come down in recent past.
The mistakes made in the past, if any, "should be forgotten" and "we should look forward" to bring sustained normalcy in the state, Singh said, stressing that sufferings of the citizens should come to an end.

He said leaving apart a faction of separatists, the common man in the Valley is "happy" with the presence of security forces.
He further said that the state's policy on Jammu and Kashmir "lacked consistency", and called upon the government to take stern action against the separatists and anti-national elements.
Responding to a query, Singh said both the Western and Northern borders of the country are facing problems and with an "unfriendly" Pakistan and "unsettled" border issues with China, it is difficult to predict what may happen on the frontiers.

On China's alleged 'String of Pearls' policy to surround India on seas, Singh termed it a "big failure" of India's foreign policy.

Beijing's interests in some port projects like Gwadar in Pakistan, Marao in Maldives, Hambantota in Sri Lanka, Chittagong in Bangladesh and Sittwe in Myanmar are seen among experts as China's move to surround India on sea.
"We could have prevented Chinese advancements had we handled the issues in region properly and intervened wherever required," he said.