Indian Army Chief Bipin Rawat on Sunday supported the Centre’s decision to call off talks with Pakistan on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly session in New York. Rawat asserted that “terror and talks cannot go together”, PTI reported.

The Indian government on Friday called off the meeting between the foreign ministers of the two countries, after three police personnel were killed in Jammu and Kashmir and Islamabad released postage stamps “glorifying” Kashmiri militant Burhan Wani.

“The government’s policy is very clear cut...you [Pakistan] show us some initiatives so that we feel that you are not encouraging terrorism,” Rawat said at a Haifa Day commemoration ceremony at Teen Murti Haifa Memorial in New Delhi on Sunday. “But we see that terror activities are continuing and terrorists come from the other side of the border. In such an atmosphere, whether talks can be initiated, only the government can decide. I agree with the government’s decision that peace talks and terrorism cannot go together.”

On Saturday, Rawat said India should take stern action to avenge the actions of militants and the Pakistan Army in Jammu and Kashmir.

Rawat said the Army will provide security for the upcoming panchayat polls. “We want these elections to go through because with this the power will devolve to people,” he said. “Our job is to ensure that the civil administration there and the election commission is able to carry out their tasks so that people can come out and cast their vote in a free and forthright manner without any fear.”

Rawat said when Imran Khan became the prime minister of Pakistan, he tried to speak of peace. “But whether the entire establishment in Pakistan wants this peace is what we have to understand,” he added, according to ANI.

He also said that wars of the future will require all kinds of technology. “Therefore, we have to reorganise ourselves to ensure that technology, weaponry and the man behind the weapon are integrated.”