India is a peace loving nation, but can reply to aggression: Rajnath
KIMIN: In a statement seen as an implicit message to Beijing, defence minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday said that though India is a peace loving country, it has the capability to reply to aggression.
Dedicating 12 strategic roads constructed by the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) to the nation here, Singh described India as a priest of world peace but added any serious disturbance to peace and tranquility in border areas would have adverse implications.
“We seek world peace (but) if someone shows us an aggressive attitude, we will respond,” Singh said, adding the “new roads will help secure international borders.”
Singhs statement comes in the backdrop of China continuing to hold on to positions in Hot Springs and Gogra Post on the border, after clashes between the armies of the two Asian giants in the bleak Galwan valley in Ladakh a year ago.
The defence minister said “last year in Galwan Valley, our soldiers displayed exemplary courage and valour in line of duty.
I salute all brave soldiers who laid down their lives fighting for the nation.”
China also claims most of Arunachal Pradesh as its territory and has dubbed it `South Tibet in internal maps.
The northern neighbour which fought a bloody border war with India in 1962 when it invaded parts of Arunachal pradesh including Tawang, often sends border patrols into areas controlled by India.
In September last year, five young Arunachali hunters were allegedly kidnaped by Chinese troops from Sera-7, in Upper Subansiri district of Arunachal Pradesh. The youth were later released in Anjaw district, around 800 km from the state capital, after several days in Chinese custody.
With no let up in India-China border tension, the Modi government is now looking to expedite work on border infrastructure, especially on roads leading to forward areas in the frontier state.
Singh said, the 12 strategic roads including 10 in Arunachal Pradesh and one each in Ladakh and Jammu & Kashmir, inaugurated during the day, would not only give a boost in connectivity but would facilitate faster movement of troops along the international border.