Defence Minister Rajnath Singh Thursday took a first hand account of the prevailing security situation along the line of control in North Kashmir district of Baramulla where he was briefed by the top army commanders.
He trekked some of the forward posts along with Army Chief General Manoj Pande and boosted the morale of the foot soldiers guarding the frontiers of the Nation. General Officer Commanding-in-Chief (GoC-in-C), Northern Command Lt Gen Upendra Dwivedi; GoC, 15 Corps Lt Gen AS Aujla and GoC, 19 Infantry Division Maj Gen Ajay Chandpuria accompanied the Defence Minister and briefed him about the operational preparedness of the Armed Forces.
Remembering the heroes of Galwan who fought valiantly for the honour of the country and laid down their lives on June 15-16, 2020, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh also paid glowing tributes to them. "Their courage, bravery and supreme sacrifice will never be forgotten. I pay homage to those bravehearts" Singh tweeted during his two day long visit to Jammu and Kashmir.
In Baramulla, Rajnath Singh broke bread with the jawans during 'Barakhanna'. He arrived at the venue sitting on the hot seat of an All Terrain Vehicle (ATV).Army Chief General Manoj Pande was seen escorting him.
Addressing a joint gathering of jawans of the Indian army, para military forces and Jammu and Kashmir police in Baramulla Singh accused Pakistan of trying to destabilise India by way of continuing its 'bleed India with 1000s of cuts' policy. Acknowledging the role of the security forces in dealing with the situation Singh said, "our security forces are such a protective shield for this country that whoever tries to break it, bleeds himself". "The Nation has immense faith in our forces who are always ready to deal with any situation,”the defence minister said.
He made this charge against Pakistan at a time when the Union territory is witnessing sudden spike in incidents of terrorist violence in the region.So far over 100 terrorists, including 21 foreign nationals have been eliminated in different anti-terrorist operations in the Kashmir valley.Even when Defence Minister was present in the Kashmir valley the security forces were conducting two major anti terrorist operations to flush out terrorists.
Reiterating that India is a peace-loving country which has given the message of 'Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’ (the whole world is one family) to the world, Rajnath Singh asserted that “we have never tried to hurt any country in any way, nor have we tried to capture even an inch of anyone’s land. He, however, assured the Nation that if an attempt is ever made to hurt the unity and integrity of the Nation, the Armed Forces will give a befitting reply. He exuded confidence that the Armed Forces will face the future challenges with full strength and their valour & dedication will build a golden future for the country.