Army chief General VK Singh and his wife at South Block in Delhi on Thursday. (Prem Singh)

New Delhi, April 1: Deploying the army against Left-wing militants is impractical because the Maoists are not secessionists, the new army chief, General V.K. Singh, said here today.

“The Naxalite problem is a law and order problem that has stemmed from certain issues on the ground. Law and order is a state subject and I think our polity is astute enough to understand the implications of deploying the army against our own people,” the general said.

He was answering a question on whether the army should be involved in the offensive against the Maoists. “We (the army) are there to assist the state (police) forces and, at the moment, it is in terms of training,” Singh said.

Singh said there were indications of a “downward trend” in the infiltration of militants across the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir.

In Jammu and Kashmir and the Northeast, however, the army will continue to operate with the “protection” afforded by the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) despite demands for its repeal.

“The AFSPA was made with certain provisions in mind. If you want your army to perform certain tasks, you have got to give them certain protection,” the chief said.

The act allows special powers to army personnel in counter-insurgency operations. Civil rights groups allege the army misuses the law because it grants soldiers immunity from prosecution.

The general, who was the eastern army commander before taking over as the chief, said in the last two years, India had “re-aligned its policies” in the east. Relations with Myanmar and Bangladesh have improved. Notwithstanding allegations of intrusions, the disputed border with China is peaceful.

“The east was always important. All that we did in the last two years was to realign focus in an area that is the future of India. It does not mean that we are shifting priorities,” he said.

The army chief conceded that China’s border infrastructure was better than India’s: “It is wrong to assume that China is modernising only in the Tibetan Autonomous Region.”

“It is modernising as a whole and (its armed forces) getting into digitised battle space. We are fully prepared (for any challenge). Preparedness is (an) ongoing process.… We are making our training methodology more practical,” he said.

On a Delhi High Court order to grant permanent commission to women, the general said the experiences of countries that have women in the armed forces needed to be studied and analysed.

Moreover, a government committee had recommended cutting down the number of permanent cadres and increasing the number of short-service commission officers.

The army was analysing the issue of permanent commission as a whole, and not only for women.