New Delhi: In a veiled dig at China, President RamnathKovind on Friday said that attempts were made to break the bilateral agreements and to change the status quo along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) but the Indian Army gave a befitting reply and successfully thwarted those intentions.
Addressing the Joint Session of the Parliament of the Budget Session in the Central Hall, President Kovind, without naming China, said, “In this pandemic period, when we were dealing with challenges arisen out of the Covid-19 in the country, attempts were made to change the status quo on our border. Attempts were made to break the peace bypassing bilateral relations and agreements on the LAC. But our security forces not only gave a befitting reply to these conspiracies and thwarted all attempts to change the status quo on the border with full vigilance, vigour and courage”.
The President further said, “the amount of restraint and valour that our soldiers have shown was highly appreciable beyond words. In June 2020, our 20 soldiers had made their supreme sacrifice in the Galvan Valley to protect the motherland. Every countryman is grateful to these martyrs”.
President Kovind also said that the Government is fully committed to protecting the interests of the country and is also cautious. Additional forces have also been deployed to protect India’s sovereignty along the LAC. Keeping eye on the needs of the future, the Government has been making all efforts to strengthen its military preparedness. Many modern equipment of the defence requirements are being indigenously manufactured now.
