diffused with mutual disengagement and withdrawal of troops

war was very much in the “realm of reality"

Army chief General Bipin Rawat's shocking comment

NEW DELHI: India cannot rule out the possibility of a two-front war – with China and Pakistan – despite having credible nuclear deterrence capabilities, said Army chief General Bipin Rawat on Wednesday.Stating that differences with Pakistan seemed to be “irreconcilable”, with the country continuing to wage a proxy war against India, Gen Rawat said China too will continue with its efforts to nibble away Indian territory through “salami slicing” and other measures.“As far as the northern adversary (China) is concerned, the flexing of muscles has started… Salami slicing, taking over territory in a very gradual manner, testing our limits of threshold… is something we have to be wary about and remain prepared for situations that could develop into conflicts,” said Gen Rawat.The Army chief’s warning that India cannot let down its guard on either of the two fronts came at a seminar here, a week after the over 70-day Doklam standoff between India and China was finallyafter intensive diplomatic parleys.The Indian defence establishment has repeatedly warned of a “collusive threat” from Pakistan and China, who often describe themselves as “all-weather friends”. After the Doklam crisis, the assessment is that the People’s Liberation Army will not shy away from needling India with “transgressions” -- military parlance for intrusions or shallow probes – all along the 4,057-km Line of Actual Control, especially in places like eastern Ladakh and eastern Arunachal Pradesh, as was earlier reported by TOI.The Army chief, on his part, said Pakistan could well swing into action to take advantage of such situations when India is busy with problems on the China front. "We have to be prepared for conflict on the northern and western borders," said Gen Rawat.“As far as our western adversary is considered, we don’t see any scope of reconciliation because their military, the polity, and the people in that nation have been made to believe that India wants to break their country into pieces,” he added.Stressing that, he said it was “myth” to assume that democracies or nuclear-armed neighbours do not go to war. “Credible deterrence does not take away the threat of war… Nuclear weapons are weapons of deterrence...Yes, they are! But to say that they can deter war, they will not allow nations to go to war, in our context that may also not be true,” said Gen Rawat.“Whether conflicts will be confined or limited in space and time or whether these can expand into an all-out war along the entire front (remains to be seen)… with the western adversary (Pakistan) taking advantage of the situation developing along the northern border (with China) being very much likely,” he added.