Army chief General Bipin Rawat on Wednesday said terrorism is becoming a new form of warfare and would remain so as long as nations continue to use it as state policy, PTI reported.

“Terrorism is becoming a new form of warfare,” Rawat said at a panel discussion at the Raisina Dialogue in New Delhi. “A weaker nation is using terrorists as proxy to put pressure on another nation to come to terms with it.”

Rawat said that social media was becoming a source of radicalisation and should be curbed. The youth in Jammu and Kashmir were being radicalised through a steady stream of misinformation, disinformation and religion-based falsehoods, Rawat added. “That is why you find more and more educated youth being drawn into terrorism,” he said.

“Radicalisation through social media is becoming a cause of raising funds for terrorism,” he said.

In September last year, Rawat had criticised social media and said some form of discipline should be imposed on how soldiers use it. However, he had observed that security personnel cannot be prevented from using smartphones or social media and the Army must leverage it to its advantage.

Rawat on Wednesday added that India’s discussions with the Taliban in Afghanistan should be without any conditions, the Economic Times reported. He said that Pakistan has treated Afghanistan as “its backyard” and wants a situation favourable to Islamabad. “When you talk to terrorists, you have to attach pre-conditions. There should be no negotiations from that point of view,” he said. “There should be talks with the Taliban without conditions, it is in our interest.”

In November, India had attended an “unofficial” dialogue process with Taliban in Moscow.