Army Chief General Bipin Rawat on Thursday called the timing of the move of the Central Government of abrogating Article 370 'perfect' as Pakistan can soon be named in the 'blacklist' by Financial Action Task Force (FATF), a multilateral watchdog. He addressed the locals of Jammu and Kashmir saying that the region has gone through a difficult time and has suffered violence for about 30 years now. He also requested the people of J&K and those who chose to resort to violence against the Centre's move to give peace a chance.

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'Checkmate Pakistan'

"Pakistan was under a lot of pressure as the FATF was going to place them under the 'blacklist' if they failed to swiftly complete its action plan to counter terror financing by October 2019," Army Chief said. He also added that Pakistan was already put on 'grey list' by FATF in 2018 for failing to counter fund-raising by terror groups such as Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM). He had informed the Central government that the Military was ready to provide all kind of support needed for the implementation of the FATF's decision.

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Focusing on the locals of J&K and those swayed by violent means in the region, he said the Indian Army does not want to use guns to spoil the atmosphere in the region. He also mentioned that it was about time for the militants to drop the guns as the people in J&K has never seen peace in a long time. The General also blamed some instigators to violate the restrictions and disrupt the peace in the J&K valley. He also blamed the instigators for not allowing the benefits of the process of integration after the abrogation of Article 370 to reach the people.

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'Pakistan pushes infiltrators across LOC'

Speaking to a news publication on Pakistan's continuous attempt to push infiltrators across the Line of Control (LOC), Army Chief said that the Indian Army is ready to tackle and fight against any wrong move made by Pakistan. The army also has its Border Action Team (BAT) ready in action. General Rawat said that Pakistan is exposing itself through its rhetoric. Lastly, he added that if local Kashmiris join the militants, the violence in the region will only harm the local Kashmiris and not the Indian establishments.

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