Defence minister Rajnath Singh on Saturday warned Pakistan and other adversaries, saying that ‘new India’ will give befitting reply to efforts made by them to destabilise peace in the nation.
“Pakistan makes all efforts to destabilise peace in India but we have sent a clear message to them that we will hit back. This is a new and powerful India,” Singh was quoted as saying by news agencies. He was addressing the Shaheed Samman Yatra in Uttarakhand's Pithoragarh.
The defence minister announced that the Centre increased the ex-gratia amount provided in case of the battle casualties to ₹8 lakh. “Earlier, the ex-gratia amount for the battle casualty was ₹2 lakh which has been increased by four times,” Singh said.
Rajnath said that India wants good ties with its neighbours and has never attacked any country. “India never occupied a foreign territory. Having good ties with neighbours has been India's culture but some people don't understand this,” Singh further added.
Singh said that Pakistan has been warned that India will not deter from crossing over into its territory and do surgical and airstrikes if threat arises from its soil. “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,” Rajnath Singh was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.
{{/usCountry}}Singh said that Pakistan has been warned that India will not deter from crossing over into its territory and do surgical and airstrikes if threat arises from its soil. “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,” Rajnath Singh was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.
{{/usCountry}}Singh without naming China said that there is another neighbour ‘who does not seem to understand things’.
Singh also launched the second leg of the ‘Shaheed Samman Yatra’ and also announced that soil from homes of 1,734 martyrs' families in Uttarakhand will be brought in urns to be used in the construction of the Sainya Dham which will be built in Uttarakhand.