Issuing a stern warning, Army Chief General Bipin Rawat said here on Saturday that any misadventure by the Pakistan Army will be repelled with punitive response and no act of terror will go unpunished.  He also said surgical strikes after Uri and Balakot terrorist incidents "amply demonstrated our political and military resolve."

Speaking at an event on '20 Years after Kargil Conflict,' Rawat said the Pakistan Army, time and again, resorts to misadventure, either through state-sponsored terrorism or intrusions in India.

However, the Indian armed forces stand resolute and ready to defend territorial integrity. "Let there be no doubt that misadventures will be repelled with a punitive response," he said.

The rise of non-state actors and the readiness to use terror and other irregular methods of fighting have become a new norm, Rawat said. Moreover, addition of cyber and space domain has changed the battlefield scenario, the Army chief noted.

 Rawat also asserted that no act of terror will go unpunished and said "surgical strikes post-Uri and Balakot (terror attacks) have amply demonstrated our political and military resolve against terror. Any act of terror will not go unpunished."

The country has come a long way in shoring up surveillance along the border since the Kargil conflict 20 years back to ensure there is no repeat of such an incident, the Army Chief said.  "We are working in a coordinated manner for a cogent and synchronized national response against sub-conventional and asymmetric threats by any adversary," he added.

Talking of the changing nature of warfare, Rawat observed that future conflicts will be more "violent and unpredictable." "Unconventional and symmetric wars are gaining pre-eminence. In the future even conventional conflicts are likely to large asymmetric component what is now being called hybrid ears," he said.

Touching on the issue of importing of defence equipment, he said "we can't afford to be import dependent throughout" and "achieving self-reliance in critical weapon technologies involves revitalization the defence public sector units, private sector participation and impetus to research and development."

 In this direction, he announced that the first ordnance factory that is now being established jointly with Russia to manufacture the Ak-203 is being headed by a serving two star Major General as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO).