His comments came during an interaction with a group of students from Rajouri district of the state, who are in the city as part of the national integration tour from February 11-21.
"You have to grow up to serve the country, the villages you come from. So, stay away from elements involved in any kind of terror activities in Jammu and Kashmir. Tell them that such activities will not yield any results," Rawat said.
Thirteen students, aged 17-19 years, most of whom have come to Delhi for the first time, have already visited Chandigarh.
"What differences did you see between Delhi and Jammu and Kashmir? There is development here and cars ply freely in the streets. And, what else, there are no bunkers here, cause there is peace," he said.
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"Why we bring youth like you here, so that you can see atmosphere of peace... The common man is the biggest sufferer of terrorism," the Army chief said.
"There was a student in my school days, who was a senior to me in Class 9. He failed his class, so he came to our class . In Class 10, he gave a moderate performance, and passed, but in Class 11, he topped. It took us all by surprise, but that was a great motivational story for us," he said.
After Delhi, they will go to Dehradun, Haridwar and then to Jammu.
In Delhi, they saw the Red Fort, Nehru Museum and Planetarium, Akshardham Temple, and took a ride in Delhi Metro, an official accompanying them said.