A day after India and China completed the disengagement of troops in Ladakh and resumed patrolling after four-and-a-half years, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that India cannot compromise on ceding even an inch of land on its borders.
His maiden remarks came following the end of a four-year stand-off with China at Demchok and Depsang Plains in eastern Ladakh.
Modi visited the Sir Creek close to the Indo-Pak border in Kutch, continuing with his tradition of celebrating Diwali with the Armed Forces, where he addressed the Border Security Force (BSF), Army, and Navy personnel.
“The enemy has been eyeing Sir Creek for long, but the country feels assured because you are posted here for security. The enemy can’t cast its evil eyes on Sir Creek or Kutch as they very well know the befitting response you gave them in the 1971 war,” he told the jawans. Modi said, “Today, there is a govt which cannot compromise on even one inch of land at the borders.”
“There was a time when, in the name of diplomacy, a policy to deceitfully usurp Sir Creek was being worked out. As chief minister of Gujarat then, I raised this issue of national concern,” Modi said.
The PM said the Armed Forces face maximum challenges from the anti-India conspirators on this coastal border. “In the past too, there were efforts to convert this place into a battlefield,” he added.
Praising the Armed Forces, Modi said the jawans have strongly moulded themselves by battling sub-zero temperatures in Himalayan glaciers, freezing nights, blistering desert heat, dust storms, quicksand, and ferocious seas.
