‘War is not Bollywood movie’: Ex Army chief on Pak-India war
Naravane prefers diplomacy over war
New Delhi: In an apparent attack on war-mongering Indian TV channels and their hosts, former Indian Chief of Army Staff, General Manoj Mukund Naravane, has said that war is not like Bollywood movie; instead it is serious business.
According to Kashmir Media Service, General Naravane made the remarks during the Diamond jubilee celebration of the Institute of Cost Accountants of India in Pune in the backdrop of recently- concluded Pakistan-India war.
While talking about the toll a war can take and the kind of trauma it can leave behind, General Naravane said that wars are not like Bollywood movies. “War is not your Bollywood movie, wars are not romantic; it is serious business,” he said. “Children lose their parents, and sometimes children themselves become victims of indiscriminate shelling,” he added, highlighting how wars can traumatise generations of people.
He said that following the ceasefire understanding between India and Pakistan, it remains to be seen how things will unfold from here.
“Last week have been a tumultuous week starting with operation Sindoor …..finally culminated with announcement of cessation of military operations ..this is cessation of military operations not the ceasefire we will have to wait and watch how things unfold in the days and weeks to come,” he said.
General Naravane also stressed upon the financial impact of warfare and the human costs that come with it. “War is an expensive business,” he said. Talking about the financial toll of a war, General Naravane brought up the loss of military equipment worth millions of dollars and how the wars leave behind a long-term economic burden of rebuilding.
General Naravane emphasised the need of diplomacy during a war while responding to a discussion over why India didn’t go for an all-out war against Pakistan. He said going to war wouldn’t be his first choice and that diplomacy should be the first approach.
“As a military man, if ordered, I will go to war. But that would not be my first choice,” he said.
