New Delhi: Without directly mentioning either Pakistan or China, President Droupadi Murmu on Tuesday said that the 'misadventures from LoC (Line of Control) to LAC (Line of Actual Control) have been given a befitting response' due to government's constant emphasis on modernising the military. The president, who is also the supreme commander of the armed forces, was speaking at her first joint session of the Parliament on Tuesday, ahead of the annual Budget session 2023.
Murmu's comments came amid India's lingering border row with China in eastern Ladakh as well as the challenges of Pakistan-backed cross-border terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir. "My decisive government has always kept the country's interest paramount and shown the willpower to completely transform the policies and strategies when required," she said.
Lauding the efforts by taken by the government to strengthen the defense infrastructure, especially in the border areas of the country, Murmu said that the development in these areas has consequently been accelerated. "The left-wing extremism, which had become a major threat to national security in the last few decades, has now been confined to a few districts," she said. Murmu said "unprecedented infrastructure" has been developed in the border areas in the past few years from the point of view of national security.
"From surgical strike to a firm crackdown on terrorism, from a befitting response to every misadventure from LoC to LAC, from abrogation of Article 370 to Triple Talaq, my government has been recognised as a decisive government," she said, further adding that the centre firmly believes that lasting peace is possible only when India is politically and strategically strong.
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The President also mentioned the commissioning of India's first indigenous aircraft carrier INS Vikrant, rolling out of the Agnipath recruitment scheme and the 'Vibrant Village' programme to provide better facilities to the border areas. The president's address reflects the views of the government of the day.
"As a result of new initiative of my government, our defence exports have grown six times. I am proud that the first indigenous aircraft carrier INS Vikrant has also joined our forces," she noted.
She also highlighted the six-fold increase in defence exports and renaming islands of Andaman and Nicobar after Param Vir Chakra awardees of the Indian Army. "My government has started working on the Vibrant Village programme to provide better facilities to the border villages. From the point of view of national security too, unprecedented infrastructure has been developed in the border areas in the past few years," she said.
In September 2016, the Indian Army carried out surgical strikes against terrorist camps in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir. A week back, Congress' Digvijaya Singh made controversial remarks questioning the surgical strike. However, party leader Rahul Gandhi trashed the comments as "ridiculous".
