In an apparent reference to Pakistan, Army Chief General MM Naravane on Tuesday said that the "neighbouring country" uses terrorism as a tool of state policy.
In an exclusive interview to hours after taking the charge as the new Army Chief, General Naravane asserted that terrorism is a worldwide problem.
"Terrorism is a worldwide problem, India has been at the receiving end of terrorism for a long time. It is only now that the entire world and many countries affected with terrorism are coming to realise what a threat it is," he said.
"As far as our neighbour is concerned they are trying to use terrorism as a tool of state policy, as a way of carrying out a proxy war against us...while maintaining deniability. However, this state can't last long, as they say, you can't fool all the people, all the time," General Naravane added.
The new Army Chief said that post the abrogation of Article 370, there has been a definite improvement in the situation on the ground.
"Incidents of violence have seen a marked decline, this augurs very well for the population of Jammu and Kashmir. It is a step forward towards bringing peace and prosperity to the region," he said.
( With inputs from ANI )