Defence Minister let his actions speak: Modi lauds Parrikar on surgical strikes

Bhopal: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday lauded the Indian Army and Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar for carrying out surgical strikes to eliminate terrorists across LoC and said that they let their work speak for themselves, while addressing ex-servicemen during the inauguration of a war memorial in Bhopal.

"Like our army doesn't say speak but displays its valour, similarly our Defence Minister also doesn't speak, but lets his work talk for him," Modi said.

He asserted that the army does not believe in speaking but in displaying its valour. "Our army is happiest when we sleep in peace. They have no complaint. But they will never forgive us if we sleep when we should be awake. Unfortunately, we have been found sleeping when we should have been awake.

"Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty. We have to keep alert always. It will be injustice to the army if we sleep away when we have to be awake," he said without elaborating.

Modi said the ancestors in hundreds of years of India's history never waged a war to capture a country.

"But if it comes to fighting for values and ideals, India is never found wanting," he said.

Lauding the valour and humaneness of armed forces, he referred to their relief and rescue operations in Srinagar during the floods two years ago despite the violence they face from the stone-pelting mobs.

"When massive floods hit Srinagar two years ago, the government found it difficult to deal with the situation and the country saw that our jawans were toiling to save people's lives,” he said.

The Madhya Pradesh government on Friday declared a "special holiday" for government offices in the city after 3 pm.

"The state government has declared a special holiday on October 14 keeping in view the Shaurya Smarak dedication programme and traffic and security arrangements," an official release said.