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Pakistan needs to be 'secular' for bilateral talks with India, says Army chief Bipin Rawat

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NEW DELHI: Amid Pakistan's fresh efforts to resume bilateral talks with India, Army chief Bipin Rawat on Friday said that if Pakistan wants to "stay together with India, then it has to develop itself as a secular state."

He added that if Pakistan is willing to become secular like India, then it seems to have an opportunity, ANI reported.

Commenting on the recent remarks of Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, the Army chief said, "They're (Pak) saying you take one step, we'll take two. There is a contradiction in what they're saying. One step from there should come in a positive manner, we'll see if the step has any effect on the ground. Till then our nation has a clear policy - terror and talks can't go together."

Rawat was speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the Passing Out Parade of the 135th course at the National Defence Academy (NDA) in Pune.

Asked about a recent statement of Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan about his country willing to take two steps for every step forward by India, he said the neighbouring nation should first take steps to curtail terror activities on its soil.

The Pakistan PM had said he was ready to hold talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi while conceding that it was not in the interest of his country to allow terror activities from its territory.

Khan said that people in Pakistan want peace with India and he will be happy to meet Modi and talk to him on any issue. He, however, said the gesture for peace cannot be one-sided.

The Pakistan PM made these comments a day after he laid the foundation stone for the Kartarpur corridor that will connect Darbar Sahib in Pakistan's Kartarpur - the final resting place of Sikh faith's founder Guru Nanak Dev - with Dera Baba Nanak shrine in India's Gurdaspur district and facilitate visa-free movement of Indian Sikh pilgrims to Kartarpur.

Speaking about assigning combat roles to women in the armed forces, Rawat said, "We are not yet ready for that as facilities have to be created within the armed forces and women also need to be prepared for that kind of hardships. It is not easy. Let us not compare ourselves with western nations. The western nations are more open," he said.

Rawat added that there were several other fields where the Army was thinking of inducting women.

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com...ndia-says-army-chief/articleshow/66876612.cms
 
Lol what a dumb thing to say when you have ties with dictators in middle east.

And why is the army man making a political statement? Is this a new norm in BJP's right wing India where killers in military are allowed to spew hatred and direct foreign policy openly?
 
Lol what a dumb thing to say when you have ties with dictators in middle east.

And why is the army man making a political statement? Is this a new norm in BJP's right wing India where killers in military are allowed to spew hatred and direct foreign policy openly?

Middle Eastern dictators aren't using Jihad as a tool against India, Pakistan is.

At the very core of Pakistan's foreign policy lies a religiously motivated prejudice and hate, and no peace talk can be successful until that is addressed.
 
Middle Eastern dictators aren't using Jihad as a tool against India, Pakistan is.

At the very core of Pakistan's foreign policy lies a religiously motivated prejudice and hate, and no peace talk can be successful until that is addressed.

Basically this mindset will never allow peace to happen between the countries.

Let the hate continue...
 
Rawat is a idiot & now thinks he is EAM too . Modi has screwed virtually every institution in India in last 5 years .
 
I’m sure that alternatively India can turn to Islam as well to have a long lasting peace and harmony between the two countries.
 
Every Hindu nationalist (the majority of Indians) thinks like him, he's at least being honest.

Middle Eastern dictators aren't using Jihad as a tool against India, Pakistan is.

At the very core of Pakistan's foreign policy lies a religiously motivated prejudice and hate, and no peace talk can be successful until that is addressed.

All these groups India bashes - LeT, etc - where do you think the finances come from ? From a country Modi "ji" has toured ans is nowadays meeting the leaders in Argentina :

JuD officials often travel to Saudi Arabia seeking donations for new schools at highly inflated costs that in turn are directed to fund LeT militant operations.

LeT also receives charitable aid directly, especially from donors in Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states. According to Jonathan Fighel, Saudi Arabia covertly supports and promotes the "Saudi-Wahabbi political and religious influence in the Sunni Muslim world" through its worldwide network of charities. LeT is one beneficiary. In Kuwait, the Revival of Islamic Society has also provided direct support to al-Qaeda and LeT.

https://globalecco.org/ctx-v1n1/lashkar-e-taiba

And the legacy of jihad is all around you, 15-20% of your population, Taj Mahal, Urdu, byriani, ... be courageous for once and bash Islam as all Hindu nationalists do in private instead of hiding behind the jihad trigger word.
 
Basically this mindset will never allow peace to happen between the countries.

Let the hate continue...

He is right though, isn't he?

Have you forgotten former Pakistan President Ziaul Haq's famous message to Rajiv Gandhi?

"Pakistan might be completely destroyed, but Muslims will still be there in the world; but with the destruction of India, Hinduism will vanish from the face of this earth.’”
https://www.dawn.com/news/1219397

For relations to improve, Pakistan will have to get over this mindset and deal with India in a secular fashion. All this Jihad and religiously motivated terrorist groups aren't helping India-Pak ties one bit. This needs to stop being Muslims Vs Hindus, and I hope that Pakistan will finally understand that under Imran's leadership.
 
He should stick to worrying about their own country. When we say India should have a Congress government they start crying like babies. With right wing Hindu fascism spreading rapidly in India there is nothing secular about them.
 
Such a dumb statement. India itself is not secular and although Pakistan might be an Islamic nation it has not elected religious extremists into power which India has on more than one occasion.
 
India needs to respect Muslims for bilateral talks to happen.
 
Don't think I can take someone called Bipin seriously. To think that he reached the post of an Army Chief is an achievement in itself.
 
There is no difference between him saying this and Pakistan saying India should become an Islamic Republic, such stupid and also hypocritical statements considering India deals with other non-secular countries, and India itself is far from secular.

Also, why is the Indian Army chief making so many statements? India accuses Pakistan's army of pulling strings and controlling the country, but these days it looks like the Indian Army chief is poking his nose in politics.

It is quite evident that India has no desire for peace, and whatever positive steps Pakistan take will be met with another stupid reply like this.
 
Middle Eastern dictators aren't using Jihad as a tool against India, Pakistan is.

At the very core of Pakistan's foreign policy lies a religiously motivated prejudice and hate, and no peace talk can be successful until that is addressed.

Lol kuch bhi :)) Some Indians would defend literally any crap that their country men spew out.
 
He might want to look at India's list of trading partners (top 5 includes UAE and Saudi). :ibutt
 
This is pretty new. Generally India has managed to keep its army under check and in the barracks where they have no say or public opinion on politics. This is probably the first time in my life Ive heard an Indian Army chief give such a political statement.

Democracy is under threat in India it seems
 
This is pretty new. Generally India has managed to keep its army under check and in the barracks where they have no say or public opinion on politics. This is probably the first time in my life Ive heard an Indian Army chief give such a political statement.

Democracy is under threat in India it seems
Thats because India is being ruled by a despot. This is now seen as normal in India.
 
Hope the army does a coup and overthrows the government who has no willpower to enact the aspirations of the majority population. In the army we trust. The only patriotic institution left in india.
 
You had the word secular in quotes implying that India was not really a true secular nation because we have relationships with Saudis. Right? Or did you mean something else.

The title implied that you need to be secular to have talks with India. The picture showed Modi shaking hands with MbS. Saudi Arabia isn't secular.
 
The title implied that you need to be secular to have talks with India. The picture showed Modi shaking hands with MbS. Saudi Arabia isn't secular.

Ahh ok ! Good point. However I think Rawat is probably hinting at bigger issues. Given the background is of allowing sikh pilgrims to visit Pakistan he is probably saying it would be better if Pakistan treated its minorities equally. this would also solve other issues. Granted its wishful thinking and not even official Indian policy.
 
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