BackModi slams China's expansionist designs in speech to troops guarding the border
Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited troops posted at Longewala in Rajasthan, where he greeted the soldiers on Diwali and delivered a tough message to China and Pakistan
PremiumPrime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday slammed China, saying expansionism was a mental disorder reflecting the thinking of centuries gone by.
“Today, the whole world is troubled by expansionist forces. Expansionism is, in a way, a mental disorder and reflects 18th-century thinking. India is also becoming a strong voice against this thinking," the prime minister said in a speech to Indian troops at the Longewala post in Rajasthan.
Though Modi did not name China, who his message was directed towards could not have been in doubt given that India and China are locked in an eyeball-to-eyeball confrontation along the border in eastern Ladakh. Tensions have been high since May when India first noticed intrusions by Chinese soldiers into India.
Modi also had a message for Pakistan.
India is in safe hands only because the country’s armed forces have the strength to stand up to terrorism and other anti-national powers, he said.
“The entire world, especially those countries who promote terrorism, has seen that Indian forces can enter other countries and kill terrorists," he said. The reference was to two strikes by India inside the territory held by Pakistan in 2016 and 2019 in response to terrorist attacks in Kashmir.
Modi also thanked the families of the soldiers deployed along the border in the festival season. “I bow before the families of the soldiers," he said in tribute to the families.
“In 2014, I celebrated Diwali at Siachen. Many people were surprised. But you know me, I am always with my own people during festivals. And I have continued with that tradition even this year," Modi said.
The Longewala post is a strategic post on the western border where the first major battle of the 1971 India-Pakistan War, known as the Battle of Longewala, was fought.
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