Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Monday said that India has developed a new security doctrine in the last five years of the government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Addressing a BJP meeting on the occasion of the release of the party manifesto, named Sankalp Patra, Jaitley said that the government has rejected and will continue to reject the “balkanisation of India”.
“This Sankalp Patra is of a government that wants to continue in power,” he said.
“This manifesto, in a season of manifestos, is not prepared with a ‘tukde tukde’ mindset. It is not even prepared with an ‘Ivy league’ mindset. This has been prepared with a strong nationalist vision,” Jaitley said taking a jibe at the Congress manifesto which the BJP rejected as divisive to the country due to its stand on AFSPA and matters of national security.
“Today the environment is entirely different. We have a government which delivers. A new security doctrine makes India one of the most powerful nations in the world where our deterrent itself is our best defence,” he told the gathering following the release of the manifesto by PM Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah.
Read More: PM Modi, Amit Shah release BJP election manifesto
“Not only our three conventional forces and paramilitary forces even our ability in cyber space and outer space and our new policy of striking at terror at the point of origin have received global support,” he said.
Again hitting out at the opposition parties, Jaitley said that this new security doctrine.
“We therefore reject all ideas for the balkanisation of India which many others in the political and public space promised and we will act completely with an idea which promises to make India one of the strongest and securest countries of the world,” the Finance Minister added.
The Congress in its manifesto released on 2 April promised to review the controversial Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act in Jammu-Kashmir and reduce the presence of Army personnel in the valley.
“Congress promises to review the deployment of armed forces, move more troops to the border to stop infiltration completely, reduce the presence of the Army and CAPFs in the Kashmir Valley, and entrust more responsibility to the J&K police for maintaining law and order,” the party said in the manifesto which was released by Congress president Rahul Gandhi in New Delhi on Tuesday.
Read More | Congress manifesto on Kashmir: Will review AFSPA, reduce Army presence
Slamming Congress’ manifesto Union Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman branded it as “anti-forces”.
Addressing a press conference on 3 April, Sitharaman said the Congress manifesto will be interpreted as being in favour of terrorists as it wants to dilute the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act.
“Terrorist-friendly people will misuse AFSPA,” she said.
She added that the Congress was demoralising the country’s armed forces by wanting to remove the immunity that the law has given them.