CHANDIGARH, 30 Aug: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said on Monday that India wants a solution to the border dispute with China through dialogue, and asserted that the government would never allow the sanctity of borders to be violated.
The Modi government has made it clear to the forces that any unilateral action on the line of actual control (LAC) should not be ignored, he said.
Singh was delivering virtually the third Balramji Dass Tandon memorial lecture organized by the Panjab University on the issue of national security.
The defence minister said that there have been perception differences on the border with China. “Despite this, there are some agreements, protocols which the armies of both countries follow to conduct patrols,” he said.
Referring to the clashes in eastern Ladakh last year, Singh said Chinese forces had ignored the agreed protocols. “We cannot allow the Chinese Army PLA to act on the LAC in a unilateral manner under any circumstances.
“That is what the Indian Army did that day in Galwan and bravely confronted the PLA soldiers and forced them to retreat,” he said, terming it a “historic” incident.
India wants a solution to the border dispute with China through dialogue, the defence minister said, and asserted that the government will never compromise on issues of the “country’s borders, its honour and self-respect.”
We will never allow the sanctity of borders to be violated, he said.
Recalling the Galwan incident, he said the bravery, valour and restraint shown by the Indian Army are incomparable and unparalleled.
Referring to the situation in the Northeast, the minister said an era of peace has come in the region in the last seven years.
There was a time when the entire region was in the grip of insurgency, he said, and dubbed the restoration of peace in the Northeast the biggest strategic victory of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s tenure. (PTI)
