Srinagar: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday reviewed the overall security situation in Jammu and Kashmir at a high-level meeting here, officials said.
Singh, accompanied by Chief of Defence Staff Gen Bipin Rawat, Army Chief Gen MM Naravane, arrived here in the afternoon following a visit to eastern Ladakh.
Besides Gen Rawat and Gen Naravane, the meeting was attended by Jammu and Kashmir Lt Governor GC Murmu, Corps Commander of the Chinar Corps Lt Gen BS Raju and Director General of Police Dilbagh Singh and top security and intelligence officers, the officials said.
They said the senior security officials apprised the defence minister about the situation along the Line of Control with Pakistan as well as on anti-militancy operations.
Official sources said that the Defence Minister hailed the efforts put in by the security agencies including army, police and the CRPF on the anti-militancy front and praised all the agencies for maintaining synergy and conducting clean operations against militants.
He asked the security top brass to continue anti-militancy operations at the same pace and ensure all the remaining militants are killed and infiltration is plugged on all routes in J&K, said the official sources.
Earlier, at the army’s Srinagar-based 15 Corps headquarters, the Defence Minister was given a power-point presentation on the infiltration status and the progress made on the anti-militancy front. The 15 Corps commander Lt Gen B S Raju and DGP Dilbagh Singh briefed the Defence Minister on the prevailing security scenario in J&K, especially Kashmir.
A defence spokesman in a statement said that the Defence Minister was briefed in detail about the situation on the Line of Control, in the hinterland and successful anti-militancy operations.
No power can touch even an inch of India’s land: Rajnath in Ladakh
Lukung (Ladakh),(PTI) On a visit to Ladakh, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday hoped the ongoing talks would resolve the border standoff with China but said he cannot guarantee the extent of success, and asserted that no power in the world can touch even an inch of India’s land.
Addressing the Army and ITBP personnel at a forward post in Lukung, Singh said if there is an attempt to hurt the self-respect of India, then it will not be tolerated and will be given a “befitting reply”.
“Whatever progress has been made in the talks, there should be a resolution of the matter. But to what extent it will be resolved, I cannot guarantee. However, I would like to assure that no power in the world can touch even one inch of India’s land, nobody can occupy it,” the defence minister said at the post located on the banks of the Pangong Tso lake in eastern Ladakh.
Singh said the best thing would be for the matter to be resolved through talks and the process was underway at both the military and diplomatic levels.
“We do not want unrest, we want peace. It has been our character that we have never tried to hurt the self-respect of any country. If there is an attempt to hurt the self-respect of India, then we will not tolerate it and will give a befitting reply,” he said.
India will not allow the sacrifice of its soldiers to go in vain, Singh said in an apparent reference to the killing of 20 Indian Army personnel during the Galwan Valley clashes with Chinese troops on June 15.
“We are proud of the Indian Army. I am feeling proud to be among the soldiers. Our soldiers have given their lives. 130 crore Indians are saddened by it,” he said.
India is the only country in the world that has given the message of peace to the whole world, he added.
“We have never attacked any country, nor have we occupied the land of any country. India has given the message of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam (the world is one family),” the defence minister said.
“Now our India is not a weak India. India has strong leadership. We have got a prime minister like Narendra Modi. We have got a prime minister who can take decisions,” Singh asserted.
He also paid tributes to the soldiers who guarded the borders of India by risking their lives in the Kargil war.
Singh arrived in Leh on a daylong visit, accompanied by Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat and Army Chief General MM Naravane.
