In a veiled warning to Pakistan, Defense Minister Rajnath Singh said on Monday that India was growing stronger and could intervene on this side of the border as well as across the border if needed.
Addressing a security conclave at the University of Jammu, he said the country had taken major measures against terrorism under the Modi government and referred to the surgical strikes carried out across the border in 2016 and the Balakot airstrike in 2019. “Bharat ab pehle jaisa Bharat nahi wow Bharat takatwar banta jaa raha hai. Zaroorat padi to Bharat seems ke iss par bhi maar sakta hai aur zaroorat padi toh uss paar bhi jaa sakta hai (India is not the same as it used to be. It is getting stronger. If need be, India can hit the border on this side and can go across the border,” said the Minister of Defense.
“Under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, our government has initiated effective measures against terrorism and for the first time not only the country but also the world has come to know the meaning of zero tolerance towards terrorism,” he said.
He also said that it took PM Modi just 10 minutes to decide on the surgical strikes.
“Pulwama and Uri were both unfortunate incidents… It took only 10 minutes for the Prime Minister to take the decision (to carry out surgical strikes) which shows his strong will. Our forces not only neutralized the terrorists on this side but also crossed the border to recharged,” he said to applause from the audience.
Terrorists attacked an army camp in the border town of Uri in September 2016, resulting in the killing of 19 soldiers. A fortnight later, the Indian Army carried out a surgical strike across the border, destroying terrorist launch pads.
In February 2019, more than 40 CRPF personnel were killed in a suicide attack on their convoy in south Kashmir’s Pulwama district. Twelve days after the attack, the Indian Air Force (AIF) destroyed a terrorist camp in Balakot, Pakistan.
The Defense Minister said that Jammu and Kashmir has been suffering from the onslaught of terrorism for a long time.
“People here know how the poison of terrorism erodes society,” he said.
Singh said it would not be an exaggeration to say that the Modi-led government has laid a solid foundation for “revolutionary reforms” in the country, which is the government’s biggest achievement.
“I remember Modi’s words at his swearing-in ceremony in 2014 when he said ‘saughandh iss mitti ki desh nahi mitne doonga, desh nahi jhookne doonga ((I promise on the soil of this country, I will not let the country be wiped out, I will not let the country stop, I will not let , so that the country bows down),” he said, adding that the prime minister kept his promise in letter and spirit.
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