Kimin (Arunachal Pradesh): Saying that India has never shown aggressive intent against any country, Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday strongly asserted that the country would not tolerate any misadventures towards its integrity and sovereignty from other nations.
Singh said this while dedicating 20 km long Kimin-Potin road to the nation in a programme held at Kimin at the Assam-Arunachal Pradesh border.
He also said that under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership a lot of reforms have been brought in the defence sector while all three defence
forces have been brought under a unified structure with the creation of the post of Chief of Defence Staff (CDS).
On the occasion, he also virtually inaugurated nine other roads built in Arunachal Pradesh and one road each in the union territories of Ladakh and Jammu & Kashmir. These roads were constructed by Border Roads Organization (BRO). The roads in Arunachal Pradesh were constructed under Vartak, Arunank, Brahmank and Udayak projects.
Also read: Defence minister dedicates 12 border roads to the nation
Chief Minister of Assam Dr Himanta Biswa Sarma, Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh Pema Khandu, Union Minister of Sports & Youth Affairs (Independent charge) Kiren Rijiju were also present in the programme.
The Defence Minister said that a strong NE is integral to India’s security and progress. He further said that though the region has tremendous natural beauty and resources; the pace of development in the northeast was very slow in the decades after independence. However, the region received a major developmental push with Prime Minister Narendra Modi taking charge of the country in 2014.
Stating that the North East, surrounded by five foreign countries is geographically unique, Singh said that from a defence point of view, the region is sensitive. He further said that for a long period the region experienced the challenges of insurgency, arms and narcotics smuggling etc. However, with development in the recent past, many of these problems have been solved, he observed.
"India would soon able to export weapons and defence equipment to other countries apart from becoming self-reliant to fulfil its own requirement as a lot of steps have been taken in this regard," he said.
While appreciating BRO for the critical role it has been playing in facilitating connectivity boost up in border areas, the Union Defence Minister said that this organization is endowed with enormous capabilities. Its role in nation-building is also immense, he added.
Also read: Jammu and Kashmir integral part of India; no amount of questioning can change reality: MEA
Whether it is security alertness or helping in the time of disasters, BRO has always been playing its role. The 12 roads inaugurated today would facilitate smooth movement of material and manpower for the armed forces. He termed the improvement in communication infrastructure
at the border areas as initiatives under the Act East Policy.
He informed that BRO’s budget allocation has been increased to Rs 11,000 crore under the present central government from earlier Rs 3,000 crore and for that reason, the organisation could build 48,000 km of roads since 2014 at the geographically challenging and sensitive border areas of the country.
