Srinagar: National Security Advisor Ajit Doval on Tuesday ruled out the possibility of rollback of recently announced Agnipath scheme for recruitment into the three military services.
“There is no question of any rollback. Let me tell you one thing. This is not a knee-jerk reaction that has come overnight. This has been debated and discussed for decades,” Doval said in an interview to news agency ANI.
He said the Agnipath scheme was “not a standalone scheme” adding the ‘Agniveers’, the Army recruits under the scheme “will never constitute the whole army”.
“Those Agniveers who become regulars eventually will undergo intensive training; acquire experience over a period of time. Indian Army at any point of time will always have people who, though recruited as Agniveers, have been selected for their suitability, agility, motivation and aptitude,” Doval added.
The NSA’s statement comes amid protests by Army aspirants and opposition against the Agnipath scheme which stipulates a layoff of 75 percent of recruits after four years.
Doval also made a mention of Kashmir in the interview saying that “people of Kashmir are no more with Pakistan and terrorism”, and that after the abrogation of Article 370, the mood and temper of people of Kashmir have totally changed.
“People are no more in favour of Pakistan and terrorism,” he said.
Over attacks on minorities in Kashmir, Doval said the government has taken various steps for their security, and went on to say that much more needs to be done on this front.
Doval also conceded that the controversial remarks by the now suspended BJP leaders Nupur Sharma and Naveen Jindal against the Prophet of Islam (PBUH) had “damaged India’s reputation internationally as they have projected the country in a manner that is far from the truth”.
“It has (damaged India’s reputation), in the sense that India has been projected or some disinformation has been spread against India which is far from the reality. Probably there is a need for us to engage them and talk to them and convince them,” Doval said in the interview.
The controversial remarks triggered worldwide protests prompting the BJP to suspend both Sharma and Jindal. The Gulf countries were the first to lodge a protest with India over the remarks.
