Defence Minister Rajnath Singh speaking at the academy for civil servants in Mussoorie.
Stressing that India is "a peace-loving nation which does not want war", Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said on Monday that the country can, however, "give a befitting reply".
"It (India) has never attacked any country, nor has it captured an inch of anyone's land. However, if anyone casts an evil eye on us, we will give a befitting reply," Mr Singh said, speaking at the 28th Joint Civil-Military Training Programme at Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration (LBSNAA) in Mussoorie, Uttarakhand.
Though he did not specify the "evil eye", the border row with China in Ladakh has been an area of concern for India. Troops from the two countries have been locked in a tense standoff in eastern Ladakh since May 5, 2020, when a violent clash erupted in the Pangong Lake region. China is continuing to harden its position along the Line of Actual Control with India, US Defence Secretary Lloyd James Austin said recently.
In his speech on Monday, Rajnath Singh cited the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict as an example of how the world now has challenges "far beyond conventional warfare". "War and peace are no longer two exclusive states, but a continuum," he said, according to a release issued by the Press Information Bureau.
"Even during peace, war continues on many fronts. A full-scale war is lethal to a country as much as it is for its enemies. Therefore, full scale wars have been avoided in the last few decades. They have been replaced by proxies and non-combat wars," Rajnath Singh further said. He expressed concern over weaponisation of technology and trade.
On coordination between the civil administration and the armed forces, which was the subject of the training programme, Mr Singh asserted that creation of the post of Chief of Defence Staff and establishment of the Department of Military Affairs "are proving to be helpful in making the country ready for future challenges".
The post of Chief of Defence Staff is vacant since December 2021, when the first incumbent, General Bipin Rawat, died in a helicopter crash. Recently, the Defence Ministry broadened the eligibility criteria and selection pool for the CDS post. Any serving or retired Lieutenant General, Air Marshal or Vice Admiral under the age of 62 years, too, is now eligible, besides recently retired service chiefs and vice-chiefs who meet the age criterion.
While batting for better civil-military cooperation, he said "synergy does not mean infringing upon each other's autonomy".
"After Independence, India followed the old stream of governance, and it led to the creation of various social, economic and political institutions... While the division of work was necessary for smooth functioning of a vast country like India, over a period of time departments and ministries started to work in silos," Mr Singh said. He claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi changed this approach.
He also spoke about defence manufacturing. Steps taken to modernise the forces and make the defence sector 'aatma-nirbhar' (self-reliant) have started to yield results, he claimed. "Now, India is not only manufacturing equipment for its armed forces, but is meeting the needs of friendly countries as well," he said, crediting PM Modi's "vision of Make in India, Make for the World" for it.
He praised the Mussoorie academy for its "unparalleled" service, and paid tributes to former prime minister Lal Bahadur Shastri, after whom the academy is named. "This joint civil-military programme, being conducted for the last two decades, is carrying forward that vision of Shastri ji," Mr Singh said. Started in 2001, the programme has participants drawn from the civil services, armed forces and the central police forces.