India forced PLA troops back-Rajnath Singh

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has said that India has stood up to China’s “unprovoked aggression” on the Line of Actual Control (LAC) and fought the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) and forced its troops to go back, though Beijing’s assertion of power is creating uncertainty across the region, He was addressinh the annual convention of FICCI in New Delhi on Monday. Singh said India is at a point in its history when it needs to stand up for itself and make it known that the country “can fight anyone” and take on any challenge to survive.

“The unprovoked aggression on our Himalayan frontiers is a reminder of how the world is changing, how existing agreements are being challenged, how power is being asserted not just in the Himalayas but across the Indo-Pacific, and how uncertain the future of the region and world could be in this backdrop,” he said during the online event. In these testing times, our forces have shown exemplary courage and remarkable fortitude. They fought the PLA with utmost bravery and forced them to go back,” he added.

He further said coming generations will be proud of what the armed forces have managed to achieve this year. Pointing to the debate regarding the comparative military strengths of the two countries, he contended there was “no scope of ambiguity” that India is far ahead of China in leading the world with ideas and soft power. Singh also referred to the issue of terror emanating from Pakistan and said the world is only now acknowledging the issue though India grappled with it alone for years. “We have been victims of cross-border terrorism, yet have fought the scourge alone even when there was no one to support us but later, they understood we were right about Pakistan being the fountainhead of terrorism,” he said.

Singh said that we  have opened doors to the private sector, incentivised domestic production, are creating defence corridors and doing a lot more. We are also willing to engage in meaningful joint ventures and partnerships with other countries, he said, adding the industry should produce defence hardware in India for the world.