‘Pakistan can’t make its own roads’: Rajnath Singh mocks China dependence

In a veiled swipe at Pakistan, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday said countries which are unable to protect their sovereignty and cannot even build roads or do trade on their own become like India's “neighbours”. Singh's comments are seen as an indirect reference to Pakistan where China has been rapidly enhancing its influence in an increasing number of areas including trade and infrastructure development. “Countries which are not able to protect their sovereignty become like our neighbours. Those who can neither make their own 'road', nor walk on it, nor do trade themselves, nor stop anyone else from doing trade,” he said. In his remarks, the defence minister also said that India's “brave soldiers” were fearlessly engaged in protecting the country's borders when people were largely confined to their homes in view of the rising cases of coronavirus.