"There is a parliamentary resolution, that entire Jammu and Kashmir region is a part of India. If Parliament wants it, then that area (PoK) also should belong to us. When we get orders to that effect, we will take appropriate action," the Army chief said while speaking to the media in Delhi. He pointed out that a Parliamentary resolution states that the entire Jammu and Kashmir region is a part of India

NEW DELHI: Army Chief General Manoj Mukund Naravane on Saturday said that the force will definitely take appropriate action of reclaiming Pakistan Occupied Kashmir if it is given an order for it.

Naravane, who was addressing his first press conference, explained that a few years ago, there was a Parliamentary resolution on Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK) and added that the entire erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir is part of India.

“If the Parliament wants that the territory (PoK) should be ours and if there are orders in this regard, then we will definitely act upon it,” he said.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah had claimed in the Lok Sabha in August last year that PoK and Aksai Chin are part of J&K. He had said this after moving a resolution for abrogating Article 370. Later, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh had also commented on PoK. During a rally in Haryana in August, he had said that if talks happen with Pakistan it will be only on PoK.

Like Naravane, his predecessor, General Bipin Rawat, in September had also said that the army is ready for action in PoK, including retrieving it and making it a part of India, should the government pass the orders for it. Rawat had told ET that the army has war-gamed any possible action in PoK. He explained that the army Srinagar-based 15 Corps and Leh-based 14 Corps perform war games of going across into PoK. The 15 Corps besides being largely involved in counter-terrorist operations has operational tasks against India’s western neighbour, Pakistan. The 14 Corps is involved in operations not only on the western front, but on the eastern one with China as well.

In October while delivering the Field Marshal KM Cariappa Memorial lecture, Rawat while referring to Pakistan Occupied Kashmir said that the territory which has been illegally occupied by Pakistan is not controlled by the Pakistani establishment, but by terrorists. He added that Jammu and Kashmir includes PoK and Gilgit-Baltistan.