All the developed countries accept the reality that in the past 8-9 years, India's stature has risen, said Defence Minister Rajnath Singh visiting soldiers at Tawang, Arunachal Pradesh on Tuesday. The minister visited the forward posts in Arunachal Pradesh and celebrated Dussehra with them.
Rajnath Singh appreciated the soldiers working in unfavourable conditions and credited the valour and commitment of the Armed Forces as one of the main reasons for the growth of India’s stature on the international stage. "You have kept the borders secure and that is why India's stature before the world is rising rapidly. All the developed countries accept the reality that in the past 8-9 years, India's stature has risen,” Singh said.
He added, “I would like to clearly say that under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, if India's stature has risen, India has made economic developments, it indeed is important but had you not kept the country's border secure - this stature would not have been possible," ANI reported.
The defence minister performed Shastra Puja with the troops at Tawang and said the righteousness and dharma of the Armed Forces personnel as the living testament to the ethos of the festival of Vijayadashmi. Singh's celebration of Dussehra with the soldiers at the strategically important location close to the Line of Actual Control (LAC) comes at a time when India and China have been engaged in a bitter standoff in certain friction points in eastern Ladakh for over three years.
Singh said efforts are being made to bolster the country’s security apparatus and foreign defence manufacturers are encouraged to produce in India. “Under the visionary leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, giant strides have been made towards ‘Aatmanirbharta’ in defence. Earlier, we used to rely on imports to upgrade our military. But today, a number of major weapons and platforms are being manufactured within the country,” Singh said.
“Foreign companies are being encouraged to share their technology and produce the equipment in India with domestic industry. In 2014, the value of defence exports was about Rs 1,000 crore, but today we are exporting defence equipment worth thousands of crores,” Singh added.
Singh visited the Tawang War Memorial and paid tributes. He also visited 4 Corps Headquarters at Tezpur in Assam and reviewed the operational readiness of troops deployed in one of the easternmost parts of the country.
