Don't repeat 1971 mistake or be prepared for consequences in PoK: Rajnath Singh

Jaipur: Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh spoke at an event in Dhankya on the outskirts of Jaipur on Wednesday and said that if Pakistan didn’t take efforts to end support to terrorism then India would not show restraint. Referring to the Balakot airstrikes, he said that India upheld the sovereignty of the neighbouring country, reported Hindustan Times.

Singh said, “When terrorists sent by Pakistan came into India and killed 40-45 of our CRPF personnel, we had to attack terrorist training camps but we did not attack Pakistan. We razed terror camps in Balakot where they were being given training. We did not even attack Pakistan’s army, we did not challenge Pakistan’s sovereignty, we took so much care.”

Warning Islamabad that of consequences if things don’t change, he recalled the 1971 war and the creation of Bangladesh. “Don’t repeat the mistake of 1971 else be prepared for what will happen to PoK,” he said.

“If we accept the existence of Pakistan, it should not be taken for granted that we accept the entity of PoK. We do not accept its existence because Pakistan has forcibly seized it, we do not accept it and so till this date, 24 seats have been left empty in the J&K assembly for PoK,” said Singh.

He was there to attend and speak for a gathering on the occasion of the 103rd birth anniversary of BJP ideologue Deen Dayal Upadhyay at his memorial in Dhankya.

He also said that by doing away with Article 350 and 35A, BJP had shown that there is on discrepancy in its words and deeds. “We used to mention it in our manifesto. People said they say this again and again, they are cheating the people. We can lose elections but we will not cheat you. We don’t do politics for power but for nation-building,” Singh said.