Attempt to grab even 1 inch of India’s land will get befitting reply: Rajnath
Amid tensions with China, minister says govt in constant communication with army officers, jawans deployed at border
DEHRADUN/PITHORAGARH: Amid the ongoing border tensions with China, defence minister Rajnath Singh said on Saturday that India will give a befitting reply to any country trying to grab even one inch of its land.
He however emphasised that India wants good relations with its neighbours.
Singh gave the warning while addressing a gathering during the inauguration of the second leg of BJP’s Shaheed Samman Yatra in Pithoragarh district of Kumaon region. The first leg was inaugurated by party president JP Nadda in Chamoli.
Under the Yatra, party leaders will visit the homes of war martyrs and collect soil from their houses to be used in the construction of Sainya Dham in Uttarakhand, a vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“India wants friendly ties with all the neighbouring countries. But there are some countries which don’t understand this, don’t know why. Historically and traditionally, India has never attacked any country or occupied their land. But, having said that, if any country dares to occupy even one inch of our land, then we will give them a befitting reply,” Singh said without naming any country.
His statement comes a day after reports emerged that China has set up another village near the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Arunachal Pradesh.
Singh said, “We have constant live communication with the army officers and jawans deployed at the border to closely monitor the situation.”
‘No power can create rift between India, Nepal’
The defence minister also spoke on the ties with Nepal citing the “misconceptions created by some people in Nepal” over the Lipulekh road in Dharchula area of Pithoragarh district, which had led to border issues with the neighbouring Himalayan country last year.
“To ease the pilgrimage to Kailash Mansarovar, we had built a road through Lipulekh from Dharchula. It will enable easy access to the holy site. However, some people in Nepal tried to create misconceptions between the two countries over the road, which is also culturally important. But no power in the world could create differences between the two countries which have a relation of ‘RotiBeti’. Nobody can break the ties between the two which are culturally and historically very strong,” said Singh.
Speaking on the “strong ties” between India and Nepal, the defence minister also cited the recent visit of the army chief of Nepal to India.
“During his visit he met the President of India at Rastrapati Bhavan in presence of all the chiefs of three forces. The value of our ties could be measured with the fact that he has been given the honorary designation of the army chief of India also,” said Singh.
‘Pakistan trying to destabilise India’
The minister attacked Pakistan by accusing it of trying to destabilise India.
“Pakistan does not understand how a country should behave with its neighbour. It has been trying to destabilise India with terror attacks for long but has failed. We have given a clear message to our neighbour on the western border that if it crosses its limits, we will just not retaliate on the borders but can even cross over into its territory and do surgical and airstrikes,” he said.
Addressing the crowd at the event, Singh hailed the development works being carried under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi while saying that “earlier there was corruption and failure in the country.”
“Once deceased former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi had said that the government sends 100 paise but the public gets only 15 paise. But now, the government sends 100 paise and the public gets the full amount through direct bank transfer without a single penny lost in corruption. Our government under PM Modi is working in a mission mode,” said Singh.
Citing the ongoing welfare schemes, he said, “Our government has started Ayushman Bharat Yojana under which people are getting free treatment up to ₹5 lakh every year. Similarly, we are determined to provide tap water connection to every home by 2024 and house to every poor by the same year. About 18,000 villages had got power supply under the government of PM Modi.”
Chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, BJP state president Madan Kaushik, minister of state for defence Ajay Bhatt, state minister of sanik kalyan department Ganesh Joshi and other party leaders were present on the occasion.
India wants friendly ties with all the neighbouring countries. But there are some countries which don’t understand this, don’t know why. RAJNATH SINGH, Defence minister
‘Give chance to Dhami for a 5-year test match’
Later during his address, Singh praised CM Dhami for the “development works” carried out by him in the state while calling him an “explosive batsmen in a T20 match.”
“He is at present playing in a T20 match in which he is performing exceptionally well. But the people need to give him a chance to play in a 5-year test match by blessing the BJP in the upcoming 2022 assembly elections. I am confident that he will perform well in the test match also by continuing to work for the development of the state,” said Singh.