Sino-India disengagement process in eastern Ladakh complete, says Rajnath Singh

The disengagement process byIndia and China in eastern Ladakh is 'complete' after ninerounds of diplomatic and military level talks between the twoneighbours, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said here on Sundayas he hit out at Congress for 'doubting' Indian soldiers'bravery.

He also lashed out at the Congress and its southern allyDMK for 'creating a controversy' over the Indo-French Rafalefighter jet deal and said the CAG among others had given'clean chit'.

It had blunted the opposition criticism that ''chowkidarchor hai'' (the watchman is thief), a barb aimed at PrimeMinister Narendra Modi, and rather proved ''chowkidar is purehai,'' he asserted.

Addressing a state conference of the Bharatiya JanataYuva Morcha in this town in western Tamil Nadu ahead of theassembly polls likely in the next two months,, he pitchedstrongly for the BJP-AIADMK alliance.

The pair of ''lotus and two leaves'' alone can bringprosperity to the state, he said, alluding to the respectivepoll symbols of the BJP and the AIADMK.

Speaking about the border stand-off, the Defence Ministersaid after nine rounds of diplomatic and military level talksbetween India and China, a solution had been found, referringto the mutually agreed disengagement process in easternLadakh.

Troops and weapons have been withdrawn from the north andsouth banks of Pangong lake in that area.

''After nine rounds of military and diplomatic dialogue,the disengagement process is complete. But unfortunately theCongress is doubting Indian army's bravery.... isn't itinsulting to the soldiers who do the supreme sacrifice,'' hesaid.

Twenty Indian army personnel were killed in the Galwanclash with the Chinese troops last year during the face-off.

India will not allow any country to take ''unilateralaction'' on its border and it will pay any cost to thwart suchattempts, Singh asserted.

However, the Congress claimed that India had lostterritory to its eastern neighbour and tried ''defame us'', hesaid.

''Till there is blood and life in this body, nobody cancapture an inch of India's land,'' the Defence minister said.

The government under the leadership of Prime MinisterNarendra Modi ''has never compromised with country's unity,territorial integrity and sovereignty'' and it shall never doso, he declared.

On the Rafale deal, he said Congress and DMK tried tostir up a controversy, apparently referring to the pricing,but said the CAG and courts gave clean chit to the government.

This showed that the opposition criticism of Modi, withthe refrain ''chowkidar chor hai'' (the guard is the thief) wasblunted and it was proved ''chowkidar pure hai'' (guard ispure), the Defence Minister added.

The IAF's capability has enhanced with the induction ofthe state-of-the-art fighter in its arsenal and it can nowface any country, he said.

Hailing Modi's handling of COVID-19 as an ''incredible andinspiring story'', he said India not only succeeded in managingthe pandemic but achieved its 'Make in India' goals indeveloping a vaccine against the contagion.

It also shared the vaccines with other countries in thespirit of 'Vasudeiva kudumbakam,' meaning the world is onefamily.

While COVID-19 impacted the economy, Modi had ensured dueefforts to give impetus to growth, including rural economy,and the predictions showed the country touching double digitgrowth in 2021-22, he said.

Foreign investment was increasing day-by-day and thestock market had been 'jumping.' The bourses were not just jumping but 'doing jallikattu'(Tamil Nadu's famed bull taming sport), he said apparentlyreferring to the bullish sentiments in the markets.

He also pointed out at the PM's 'resolve' to doublefarmers' income and therefore special focus by Modi was beingshown in this direction, he said.

The minister also highlighted various initiatives of theCentre in different sectors like drinking water andinfrastructure.

Also, corruption has been eliminated to a certain extentand unlike former Prime Minister late Rajiv Gandhi'sstatement that only 13 paise of Re 1 from government reachedthe common man, now the entire 100 paise was put into thepeople's account, the senior BJP leader said.

He also pointed out at various welfare initiatives forTamil Nadu by the Centre, including an AIIMS in Madurai andincreased financial allocation.

The NDA government worked by the ideals professed inTamil treatise Tirukkural, he said.

On the Sri Lankan Tamils front, he recalled Modi's 2015visit to Jaffna, the first by an Indian prime minister, tohand over houses built by India to Tamil population andreiterated the Centre's commitment for the well being offishermen from Tamil Nadu.

Taking on the Congress and DMK, he described them as''strange bedfellows'' whose common thread was ''love ofappeasement''.

''They are marrying each other but they have no chemistry.

Someone said DMK feels Congress is a burden. The only commonthread between the two is the love of appeasement,'' he said.

''Congress and DMK model is based on corruption andappeasement. Their model of appeasement politics will weakenTamil Nadu's social fabric,'' he said.

The BJP stood for justice for all and appeasement ofnone.

The party's 'successful' ''Vetrivel Yatra'' in the statehas shaken the DMK and Congress, he claimed, and expressedconfidence the people will reject the combine.

''They like the combination of Lotus and Two Leaves. OnlyLotus and Two Leaves can bring prosperity'' to the state, headded.

BJYM chief and Lok Sabha MP from Karnataka, TejasviSurya, also lashed out at the DMK, calling it ''anti-Tamil''.

PTI SAVS VS

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)