Pakistan has made terror a state policy: Rajnath Singh

Pakistan has made terrorism as its state policy and despite losing four wars against India, it has not learnt its lessons and continuing its misadventures against us, said defence minister Rajnath Singh said here on Saturday.

He was addressing the Gentlemen Cadets (GC) at Passing out Parade (PoP) of Indian Military Academy (IMA) after inspecting the PoP as the chief guest.

“India has a hostile neighbour at its western front with Pakistan which has terrorism as its state policy. Because of that you (GCs) have to be prepared all the time to fight terrorism,” said Singh.

He said, “Our government has adopted a multi-front strategy against terrorism which is yielding results. However, we still need to be on alert because the Pakistani non-state actors involved in terrorism activities have become so powerful that the state actors have turned into mere puppets at their hands there.”

Continuing his attack, he said whole world knows that Osama Bin Laden, who planned the 9/11 attacks was found in Pakistan. “History proves that India has never attacked any foreign country nor has ever interfered in their matters. But Pakistan always does that.”

Singh said, “The leaders of terror outfit Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) who planned the deadly 26/11 attacks in Mumbai are also sitting in Pakistan. The families of victims of that the attack would only get justice when they (LeT terrorists) will meet their end. They won’t be save themselves from India’s security apparatus for long.”

During his address, Singh also stated about the requirement of being vigilant at the northern and northeastern front against China.

“India has some territorial differences against China as the border between them is yet to be clearly demarcated. However our armed forces need to show both courage and wisdom at the Indo-China border which it has done in the past like in Doklam dispute where they showed extraordinary determination to avoid an armed conflict,” he said.

Addressing the GC who got commissioned as officers in Indian Army on Saturday, he also warned them about the “future challenges” apart from conventional war.

“There would be challenges like fake news, use of false identities to create doubt and confusion in the armed forces and hacking into critical infrastructure by enemy countries to access sensitive information which are all a step the act of terrorism. To fight these, you (GCs) should also gain expertise in cyber weaponry apart from conventional weaponry,” said Singh.

He assured the newly commissioned officers of standing alongside them whenever needed and said, “From now on the Defence ministry would take care of the well being of yours as well as your family members.”

“It is the matter of great pride for the families who have handed their son for the security of the country for which I am grateful to them.”

A total of 377 GCs, including 71 from friendly countries, passed out at the PoP.