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India will give tit-for-tat reply to Pakistan: Rajnath Singh

Singh also said the Modi-led govt has taken stringent action to control militants and Maoists

Mumbai: Union home minister Rajnath Singh on Saturday said he had instructed the Indian defence forces to respond to Pakistan army in “their language” or “tit for tat”, provided India is not the first to violate ceasefire at the border.

Mr Singh said that these instructions were given during the recent skirmishes and fire exchange between the Border Security Force and Pakistani Rangers last November.

Mr Singh was on a day’s visit to Maharashtra on Saturday in which he addressed the students of Symbiosis college in Pune in the morning, inaugurated a hall in Indian Merchants Chamber in the evening and later addressed party workers at KC College.

He said the Narendra Modi-led government has taken stringent action to control militants and Maoists. “The percentage of attacks by Maoists have been reduced by 30 per cent and it will reduce more in future,” he said.

“It was because of our diplomatic skills that the United States of America, UAE and Saudi Arabia warned Pakistan to stop militant activities against India,” Mr Singh said. He further said that smuggling of cows to Bangladesh has reduced from 20 lakh to 2.5 lakh during last year.

“We want to keep good relations with our neighbouring countries, including Pakistan, China, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, but Pakistan repeatedly violates ceasefire at the boundary,” he added.

Mr Singh assured chief minister Devendra Fadnavis that the Union government would provide financial assistance to the state to tackle the drought situation.

He appealed to party workers to go to the village and interact with villagers. “Be a socio-political worker and not just a political worker,” he said.

Later in the evening, Mr Singh appealed to the business community to embrace ‘Swadeshi’ principle for better economic growth. He was in Mumbai to inaugurate a room in the name of former BJP minister Ved Prakash Goyal at Indian Merchant’s Chamber.

“Why is India not a developed country today? I want answers from those who refuse to adopt the Swadeshi concept. We copied other countries and followed their economic model but forget our roots. I appeal to the IMC members to promote Swadeshi,” he said.

Rajnath Singh elaborated on efforts such as Make in India, among others.

“We have not only boosted our economy by announcing manufacturing programme, but also boosted confidence in foreign investors to invest here. I can proudly say that our FDI has gone up by 48 per cent this time,” he said.

The Union home minister also said his government was transparent and corruption-free.

( Source : deccan chronicle )
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