”Jaisa padosi hamare bagal mein baitha hai, parmatma kare ki aisa padosi kisi ko na mile (God forbid, anyone gets a neighbour like ours),” Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said on Thursday in the context of Pakistan.
Addressing the annual general body meeting of the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA) here, he said the challenges before the country were increasing since it was emerging as a major economic power.
The biggest challenge for India has always been the behaviour of Pakistan, Singh said, adding, ‘Tthe problem is that you can change your friend but choosing a neighbour is not in your hands.”
Singh said the decision taken by the Modi government to nullify Article 370 and create two union territories has ended the discrimination faced by the people of Jammu and Kashmir during the last 70 years.
He said the groundwork towards a permanent solution to this issue had been laid during the first term of the Modi government. The decision would obviously have some repercussions, he added, while noting that Pakistan was not happy and it would try to disturb peace. ”Our armed forces have accepted the security challenge and are fully prepared to meet any threats,” he added.
Meanwhile, Chief of the Army Staff, Gen Bipin Rawat, on Thursday briefed the Defence Minister on developments in J&K and on the Indo-Pak border. He told Singh that the overall situation was under control and the country’s armed forces were in a state of high alert.