New Delhi: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Monday said the Uri and Balakot strikes were a befitting reply by India to the rising terrorism on the West front. Jaishankar made the remark while addressing the Pandit Hriday Nath Kunzru Memorial Lecture 2024 on 'Bharat and the World' at the Jawaharlal Nehru University. "The Uri and Balakot strikes by India sent its own message to the world. The West front terrorism got a befitting reply," Jaishankar said.
Asserting developments in India's national security strategies, Jaishankar said that by seeking to rectify the "long neglect of the border infrastructure", India has made the defence of the nation "more effective". "When we were challenged on the LAC with China in the midst of Covid, our rapid and effective counter deployments were the appropriate answer," he said.
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India is becoming a self-reliant country and a source of motivation: Jaishankar
Jaishankar also referred to the socio-economic issues in Ukraine and Afghanistan while adding that India's achievements and initiatives towards a self-reliant country are a source of motivation.
"Upgrading our skills, promoting talent and innovation, making it easier to do business and supporting national products are all facets of the transformation underway," he added.
Furthermore, while speaking about India's strengthening global footprint Jaishankar said, "There has been discernible, even if uneven, progress in economic and political re-balancing of the global order. The G20 has taken over the G7 and many new groupings and mechanisms have come into being. "The list of the top economies of the world has undergone change and India itself has moved up six positions in the last decade," he added.
Balakot airstrike
India witnessed one of the deadliest terrorist attacks, wherein it lost 40 brave soldiers on the same day the world was celebrating the week of love, Valentine's day, in 2019. However, unlike earlier, this time, India did not choose to consult the United States about its next step but, was determined to retaliate historically. Subsequently. on February 26, 2019, India carried out airstrikes by crossing international boundaries-- thus marking the first incident since the 1971 Indo-Pak war when an Indian aircraft carried out an airstrike outside its limit.
(With inputs from agency)
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