New Delhi: Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Upendra Dwivedi on Wednesday met spiritual leader Jagadguru Rambhadracharya at his ashram in Madhya Pradesh’s Chitrakoot, raising questions about conducting a religious visit while in uniform.Following the meeting, Rambhadracharya said that when asked what “dakshina”, or offering, the army chief could provide, the religious leader said that he had asked for Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) and the army chief had accepted his demand.“The Indian Army chief came to me. He received initiation from me in the Ram Mantra – the same mantra that Hanuman ji received from Sita ji and achieved victory over Lanka,” he said to the Press Trust of India.“Afterwards, when the matter of ‘dakshina’ came up, I said I would ask for a ‘dakshina’ that no teacher has ever asked for before. I said, ‘I want PoK (Pakistan-occupied Kashmir), this is my dakshina. He accepted my request. We are ready to give Pakistan an appropriate response.”The army chief’s visit comes in the weeks following Operation Sindoor, when India conducted strikes on nine targets in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir on May 7 in the aftermath of the Pahalgam terror attack. This was followed by a four-day-long military conflict with Pakistan with missiles and drone attacks, which ended on May 10 when a ceasefire was announced. Notably, US president Donald Trump claimed that he had mediated the ceasefire. However, India has maintained that the decision to stop hostilities was reached bilaterally between India and Pakistan.In 2024, the Army reiterated to its personnel that they must adhere to official rules for “wearing trinkets and religious symbols in uniform”. The orders were issued after some Army personnel were seen wearing religious markers, chains and other accessories in recent social media posts, The Indian Express has reported.On General Upendra Dwivedi’s visit in uniform to a Hindu religious leader:1. Civil-military relations are strained when military leaders align with partisan religious agendas, undermining the apolitical ethos of India’s secular armed forces.— Sushant Singh (@SushantSin) May 29, 2025In December, the photograph of the Pakistani army signing the Instrument of Surrender in Dhaka on December 16, 1971, was removed from the office of the army chief and replaced with a new painting, purportedly inspired by the Mahabharata. The army later said that it had been relocated to the Manekshaw Centre in Dhaula Kuan, a massive conference hall named after India’s first field marshal.