PoK Will One Day Say ‘I Am India’: Rajnath Singh’s Bold Statement
New Delhi (The Uttam Hindu): Attacking Pakistan, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said that running the business of terrorism is not 'cost effective', rather it may have to pay a heavy price for it, Pakistan has realized this today.
The Defence Minister said, “In Operation Sindoor, the people of the entire country have seen, understood and felt the success of the Make in India campaign. Today it has been proved that Make in India is necessary for both the security and prosperity of India. On one hand, India is rapidly climbing the ladder of economic success and today, it has emerged as the fourth largest economy of the world, and soon it will be seen as the third largest economy.”
The Defence Minister was addressing a CII meeting in Delhi on Thursday. Here he said, “I believe that the people of Pakistan Occupied Kashmir are our own, part of our family. We are committed to the resolution of Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat. We have full faith that our brothers who are geographically and politically separated from us today, will also return to the mainstream of India someday or the other with their self-respect, voice of soul and voluntarily. Most of the people there feel a deep connection with India, there are only a few who have been misled. The situation of these brothers of ours living in PoK is similar to that of Shakti Singh, the younger brother of brave warrior Maharana Pratap. Even after the younger brother Shakti Singh separated, the faith of the elder brother Maharana Pratap remains intact towards his younger brother and he says with great confidence - 'Then he will leave the wrong path and come on the right path on his own. He is my brother, how will he go away from me.'”
The Defence Minister said that India always talks about connecting hearts, and we believe that by following the path of love, unity and truth, the day is not far when our own part POK will return and say, I am India, I have returned. POK's unity with India depends on the cultural, social and economic prosperity of this country.
Referring to Operation Sindoor, he said, “You saw how we first destroyed the terrorist hideouts and then the enemy's military bases and airbases. We could have done a lot more, but we presented a great example of coordination between power and restraint to the world. Under the banner of self-reliance, we are continuously achieving success even on critical and frontier technologies. India's hold in the field of artificial intelligence, cyber security, unmanned systems and space-based security is now being firmly established on the global stage.”
Make in India is an essential element in India's national security. If we did not have this capability, India's forces would not have been able to take such effective action against terrorism, from lower Pakistan to Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. He said that to promote self-reliance in the defense sector, just two days ago, the government has approved the making of the prototype model of the 5th generation fighter aircraft 'Amca Project'. This is a very bold and decisive step, which will strengthen India's defense capabilities as well as give a new height to the aerospace sector in this country.
Under the AMCA project, there is a plan to develop five prototypes, which will be later put into series production. He said that this decision should be considered a milestone in the history of the Make in India program because for the first time, the private sector will get a chance to participate along with public sector companies in a mega defense project.
The Defence Minister said that today we are not just making fighter aircraft or missile systems, but we are also getting ready for new age warfare technology. Our domestically developed systems have surprised the whole world today, during Operation Sindoor, proving that we have the power to penetrate any enemy's armour. Today, more than 16,000 MSMEs in the country are associated with the defence sector. These small companies have become the backbone of our supply chain. These companies are not only strengthening our journey of self-reliance, but are also providing employment to lakhs of people. With this, our defence exports, which were less than a thousand crore rupees ten years ago, have reached a record figure of Rs 23,500 crore today. Today, not just weapons, but our systems, sub-systems, components and services are also reaching more than 100 countries of the world.
Speaking on the achievements of the defence sector, Singh said, “10-11 years ago, while our defence production was Rs 43,746 crore, today it has crossed the record figure of Rs 1,46,000 crore. It is a matter of pride that the private sector has contributed more than Rs 32,000 crore in this.
Rajnath Singh said, “As a Defence Minister, I am very happy to say that for the first time, the country's defence sector is also playing an important role in India's ever-growing journey. Due to many initiatives taken by the government in the last decade, India's defence sector has reached new heights. Today we are among those select countries on which global trust is constantly increasing. That is, this is not only India's development journey, it is India's trust journey.
He said, “I am very proud to say that under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, our country has become the fourth largest economy in the world today. It is not just a matter of the economy increasing in size, it is a matter of the world's ever-increasing trust in India and India's trust in itself.”