PM Modi said development of a country is possible only if it is secure.
Highlights
- PM said 20 years on, the Kargil victory still inspires the whole country
- It was a "symbol of India's might, determination and capability, he said
- He said modernisation of armed forces was top priority for his government
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, a day after the 20th anniversary of the Kargil victory, said India's security has been impregnable and will continue to remain so. "We will not come under any pressure when it comes to national security," the PM said. Paying tribute to the soldiers who were killed in the line of duty in the 1999 war with Pakistan, PM Modi said the Kargil victory was a "symbol of India's might, determination and capability".
PM Modi said 20 years on, the Kargil victory still inspires the whole country. "Wars are fought not by governments but by whole country... Kargil was victory of every Indian," the PM said at a commemorative function in Delhi on Saturday evening.
Recalling his visit to Kargil during the time of war, PM Modi said "I had gone to Kargil 20 years ago when war was at its peak, the enemy was playing its games sitting on high peaks. Death was staring in the face yet our jawans carrying the tricolor wanted to reach the valley before anyone."
The PM said development of a country is possible only if it is secure. Saying that modernization of defence forces was a key priority for his government, PM Modi said "Time has come for ensuring jointness among Army, Navy and Air Force."
Without naming Pakistan, the PM said some countries were resorting to proxy war to spread terrorism and that time has come for united global efforts to deal with it.
At the event, PM Modi also met GL Batra, the father of Param Vir Chakra awardee Captain Vikram Batra who had lost his life at Kargil.
"When Param Vir Chakra awardee, son of Himachal Pradesh, J&K Rifles Captain Vikram Batra had said, "yeh dil maange more", his heart wasn't asking for himself, not for a religion, a language or a caste but for the whole Bharat" the PM said.
To the large number of military personnel and former servicemen present at the event, the PM said, "In the last five years, several important decisions were taken for welfare of our soldiers and their families. Our government took the decision to implement OROP (One Rank One Pension), which was pending since decades. Right after our government was formed this time, we took decision to raise scholarship of martyrs' children."
With inputs from PTI