Prez Kovind hails Covid vaccination drive, bravery of Indian armed forces
Seeks to allay fears on agri laws, says Indians salute farmers
New Delhi, Jan. 25: President Ram Nath Kovind on Monday asserted that the country's armed forces are "adequately mobilised" in a "well-coordinated" move to thwart any attempt to undermine national security, and recalled how its valiant soldiers foiled the "expansionist" plans by China in Ladakh last year.
"Our national interest will be protected at all costs," the President declared in his address to the nation on the eve of the 72nd Republic Day during which he also said every Indian saluted the farmers and sought to allay their fears over the three contentious farm laws.
Mr Kovind's remarks came amid the nearly nine-month-long military standoff with China in eastern Ladakh and the deadlock between the Centre and the farmer unions over the farm laws enacted in September.
"The path of reform at the initial stages may cause misapprehensions but the government is singularly devoted to the farmers' welfare," he said, as the protests by the farmer unions demanding repeal of the three laws continues at border points in Delhi.
On the country's efforts to fight Covid-19, the President said an effective response to the pandemic would not have been possible without the
Constitutional value of 'Fraternity' among the people of the country. He also took pride in the fact that India was called as "pharmacy of the world" for supplying medicines to several countries to alleviate the sufferings across the globe. He felt that after about a year of this "unforeseen ordeal", India today stands "not despondent but confident."
Also, he said the slowdown has turned out to be transitory as the economy has regained its dynamism.
Mr Kovind urged people to utilise the "lifeline" provided by the Covid-19 vaccine and get inoculated as per guidelines. "Your health opens the way for your advancement."
Paying tributes to the 20 Indian soldiers who laid down their lives at Galwan valley in eastern Ladakh last June during
clashes with the Chinese troops, the President said the past year "was a time of adversity, and it came from many fronts."
"We faced an expansionist move on our borders, but our valiant soldiers foiled it. To achieve this objective, 20 of them had to lay down their lives."
Mr Kovind said the nation shall remain grateful to those brave soldiers.
Paying tributes to the farmers, the President said every Indian salutes our farmers who have made our vast and populous country self-reliant in food-grains and dairy products. He said that despite adversities of nature, numerous other challenges and the Covid19 pandemic the farmers sustained the agricultural production. "A grateful nation is fully committed to the welfare of our farmers."