Lt General D S Hooda (retired), who was the commanding officer during the 2016 surgical strike, has denied reports of having joined the Congress.

I have not joined the Congress party, Hooda said when asked whether he had joined Congress, which has asked him to prepare a report on national security.

Hooda was the General Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the Northern Command during the terror attack on Uri army camp and the subsequent surgical strike in September 2016.

The Congress has on Thursday roped in Hooda to prepare a "vision document" for the country's security, more than two months after the former army commander said the surgical strike was "overhyped and politicised".

"The Congress president (Rahul Gandhi) is setting up a Task Force on National Security to prepare a vision paper for the country,"' the Congress said in a statement here.

It added that Hooda will lead the Task Force and prepare the paper in consultation with a select group of experts.