File Photo: Minister of State for Defence Rao Inderjit Singh
The Minister of State for Defence Rao Inderjit Singh today repudiated former Pakistan President General Pervez Musharraf's comment that the Pakistani Army had "caught India by the throat" in the Kargil war.
The 1999 war has given him a "bloody nose", Mr Singh said.
"Musharrraf has no position (in Pakistan) as of today. He has been a maverick politician or a maverick leader. What he says does not have to be responded to. I think in the Kargil war we have given him a bloody nose," Mr Singh said.
He was speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the launch of the fourth anti-submarine warfare corvette 'Kavaratti' in Kolkata today.
On Sunday, while addressing a convention of the youth wing of his party All Pakistan Muslim League (APML), Mr Musharraf had said, "I don't think India would ever be able to forget the three-month-long battle (Kargil war) when our gallant armed forces caught them by the throat".
Referring to Narendra Modi's visit to China, Mr Singh said, "The Prime Minister had gone to strike an economic talk with the Chinese ...China is responding because it wants to have a good relation with India, specially economic relation."
On whether India is well-protected from the foreign threats in its coastal belt, Mr Singh, who was a Minister of State for Defence Production from 2006-09 in the United Progressive Alliance or UPA
government, said, "We have a large coastal area and our geographical location is prone to security violation. Over the years for inadequate infrastructure we have been exposed."
"Over the last few years the government of India has taken steps to ensure that by 2018 the security infrastructure is laid. The Border Roads Organisation has been brought solely under the Defence Ministry and has been given strict deadlines," he added.
Mr Singh had visited forward areas of Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim last week after Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar visited the area earlier this month.
About implementation of 'One Rank One Pension' for the Armed forces, Mr Singh said a decision on it has been reached after the Centre had over past one year consulted political parties and all stake holders.
"The announcement of the decision is most likely to be made by the prime minister by this month," he added.