Rajnath Singh addresses the Veer Shiromani Maharana Pratap Mahasammelan on Sunday
Whether it was Maharana Pratap at Haldi Ghati then, or it is the Indian Army now at the Galwan Ghati (valley), India never bowed down, nor will it ever, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said on Sunday.
He was attending the 'Veer Shiromani Maharana Pratap Mahasammelan' here in Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar in Maharashtra.
Addressing the event, Singh said, "I never imagined this public who has come to listen to me, this is not a crowd it is a sea. I would congratulate you for changing the name to Sambhaji Nagar".
Urging people to know about history, he assured the people that neither did India ever bow down in the past nor will it ever do so in future.
"One should turn over the pages of Maharana Pratap's life, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj. One will find that there is nothing more important than self-respect in human life," Rajnath Singh said.
He added, "In the war of Haldi Ghati, maharana Pratap did such wonders. I won't get into the details...but I would say, whether it is Haldi Ghati or the Galwan Ghati, neither did India ever bow down nor will ever do so. I want to assure everybody of that".
He said that India never provokes anyone, but if someone does then the country won't leave anyone.
"Our Prime Minister has 56 inches chest and will never let you down," he remarked.
Stressing upon the 'Atmanirbhar Bharat', the Minister added, "We decided to go ahead with Atmanirbhar Bharat. Before 2014, we used to export arms worth Rs 900 crore and now we are doing more than Rs 16,000 crore arms export".
"Earlier, the world used to ignore when India spoke, as it considered us weak. But today, when India speaks the whole world listens carefully," he added.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)