Bad weather forces army chief to cut short J-K visit

Bad weather conditions on Friday forced new Army Chief Gen Bipin Rawat to end his 3-day visit to Jammu and Kashmir on the second day.

Gen Rawat visited forward areas in Akhnoor sector in Jammu district this morning, army sources said.

Due to extreme weather conditions in Kashmir and Ladakh region, he skipped his visit to those areas and flew back to New Delhi, the sources said. On his maiden visit to Jammu and Kashmir after taking charge, Gen Rawat yesterday reviewed the security situation and favoured a dynamic strategy to handle the “proxy war”.

Rawat commended the soldiers for “strongly reciprocating to the unprovoked ceasefire violations by Pakistan”. The army chief had begun his day tour by visiting the Udhampur-based Northern Command where he was briefed by Lt Gen Devraj Anbu. “The army chief chief reviewed the security situation in Jammu and Kashmir and also operational preparedness of Northern Command at a high-level meeting,” officials said.

General Rawat lauded the role of the Northern Command in restoring peace and normalcy during the recent unrest, they said.