Addressing the 25th celebrations of the Kargil War victory here, the Prime Minister said that he has come to honour and pay homage to those brave soldiers who made the country proud in 1999 by making the enemy bite the dust in the Kargil heights.
He criticised the previous governments of the country for even avoiding erecting war memorials in the country to honour the bravehearts.
“For 70 years, those in government avoided the demand for making war memorials on one pretext or the other. They even don’t remember to participate in the Kargil War victory celebrations today. I have the privilege of joining the silver jubilee celebrations of Kargil victory because the people elected me for the third term. Had they come to power, they would not be here today,” PM Modi said.
The PM said that for the previous governments, the defence forces were meant for parades and salutes. “For us, they are the sentinels of our borders guaranteeing peace, security of the people and the integrity of the country”, the PM asserted.
He also spoke of the alleged frauds committed by the previous governments in defence deals. “They did not want our defence forces to have latest fighter planes. They are opposing the Agnipath Scheme which is aimed at making our soldiers young and fighting fit for war. They are saying that the Agniveer Scheme has been floated to save on pensions by Narendra Modi. They forget that a soldier recruited today will be eligible for a pension after 30 years and by then Modi would be 105. They want people to believe that Modi is such a fool that he will play mischief with the country’s defence forces when its political so-called benefit will become available when I would be 105 years old,” he said.
The PM said those governments in the past did not even provide bullet proof jackets to our defence forces. “During the last 10 years, we have made efforts to make the defence forces self-reliant. In the defence equipment sector, our defence forces are now also defence equipment exporters. Our defence forces are today not only equipped with the latest arms & ammunition but are also producers of such modern defence equipment. Today, our defence allocation is over Rs 1.25 lakh crore,” the PM asserted.
PM Modi also spoke about the development and progress of the Ladakh region. He carried out the first blast of the 1.4 km long Shinkun La tunnel that will connect the Zanskar region of Ladakh with Himachal Pradesh as an all-weather alternative highway.
He said the budget allocation of Ladakh has gone up from Rs 1,100 crore to Rs 6,000 crore.
“Once completed, the Shinkun La tunnel will open new avenues of development and progress for the Ladakh region. It would provide all-weather, around-the-year road connectivity.
“Holistic planning has brought about big changes in road connectivity, safe drinking water availability, digital connectivity, etc. Under the Jal Jeevan Mission over 90 per cent of people have access to safe drinking water in Ladakh today. Youth are getting quality education, and the setting up of Sindhu Central University is in progress. 4G connectivity is being made available in the region. Work on the 13 km long Zojila Tunnel is in progress. This will make NH 1 an all-weather highway," the PM said.
“In other areas, new and lofty targets of development are being achieved. The Border Roads Organisation (BRO) made challenging targets possible in the region. BRO has completed 330 infrastructure projects in the last three years from Ladakh to Northeast”, PM said.
On his arrival here earlier in the day, the PM laid a wreath at the Kargil War Memorial to pay homage to over 545 martyrs who made the 1999 victory in the rugged, mountainous region of Ladakh possible for the country. He also visited the war memorial museum in Drass.
--IANS
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