"Only Way Terrorism Can Be Ended..." General Bipin Rawat's Mantra

Terrorism will remain as long as there are states that sponsor it and the only way to end it is like America after 9/11, India's Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat said on Thursday, in a warning that was seen aimed at Pakistan.

"Terrorism is here to stay so long as there are going to be states that are going to sponsor terrorism and they are going to use terrorists as proxies, make weapons available to them, make funding for them, then we can't control terrorism," he was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.

"We've to bring an end to terrorism and that can only happen the way Americans started after 9/11. They said let's go on a spree on global war on terror. To do that you have to isolate the terrorists. Anybody who is sponsoring terrorism has to be taken to task," General Rawat said at an event in New Delhi.

"Any country which is sponsoring terrorism has to be taken to task. I feel one of the measures adopted is of blacklisting by Financial Action Task Force (FATF) is one good measure. Diplomatic isolation, you have to do this," he added.

Though he did not name Pakistan, the statement by General Rawat, who took over the newly-created title on Jan 1, will be widely seen aimed as an assertive message for Islamabad. India has long accused Pakistan of sheltering terrorists including those behind the 2008 Mumbai terror attack known as "26/11".

General Rawat, who passed on the position of Army chief to General Manoj Mukund Naravane, has been tasked with trimming weapons procurement procedures and integrating operations of the armed forces, besides acting as the principal military advisor to the Union Defence Minister on tri-service matters. He will also head the Department of Military Affairs and be paid a salary equivalent to a service chief.