Rajnath Singh thanks armed forces for giving ‘befitting reply' to Pakistan
Defence minister Rajnath Singh on Sunday thanked armed forces for giving a befitting reply to Pakistan through Operation Sindoor after the April 22 terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam that claimed 26 lives, and said India has adopted a zero-tolerance policy towards terrorism.
'Through Operation Sindoor, India gave a clear message to the entire country of its willingness to respond to terrorist attacks,' Singh said while virtually inaugurating the BrahMos Missile complex in Uttar Pradesh.
'This is not the first time that India has responded to terrorist attacks. The Uri surgical strike, Balakot air strike and now after the Pahalgam attack, India has shown the world how it can respond to terrorist attacks,' Singh said.
'We have adopted a zero-tolerance policy towards terrorism... On behalf of everyone, I thank our arm forces for giving a befitting reply to Pakistan through Operation Sindoor,' he said.
India launched Operation Sindoor on May 7 through which the Indian Air Force carried out air raids against nine targets in Pakistan administered Kashmir and Pakistan's Punjab province.
Commenting on the BrahMos facility in Uttar Pradesh's state capital Lucknow, Singh said that now India is fast emerging as a Defence Industry hub.
The BrahMos production unit has come up on 80 acres of land in Bhatgaon in Sarojini Nagar Tehsil in Lucknow, provided free of cost by the Yogi Adityanath government. Completed at a cost of ₹300 crore in three-and-a-half years, the facility will manufacture the world's fastest supersonic cruise missile—a joint India-Russia project with a range of 290 to 400 km and a top speed of Mach 2.8.
The BrahMos can be launched from land, sea, or air and uses a 'fire and forget' system, making it highly precise and difficult to intercept.
The project is part of the Uttar Pradesh Defence Industrial Corridor.
Launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the UP Investors Summit in Lucknow on February 21, 2018, the corridor spans six strategic nodes—Kanpur, Jhansi, Lucknow, Aligarh, Agra, and Chitrakoot—under the supervision of the Uttar Pradesh Expressways Industrial Development Authority (UPEIDA).
The six nodes in Uttar Pradesh's corridor are located near major expressways like the Purvanchal Expressway and the Ganga Expressway. This ensures smooth transport and logistics.
Singh said that Kanpur, which was known as Manchester of East in the past, will regain its lost glory due to the Defence Corridor project.
Singh pointed out that till date around ₹4,000 crore MOUs have been rolled out in the state under the Defence Corridor project.
'The inauguration of BrahMos today holds much importance as it was on this day on May 11 ,1998, India had carried out Nuclear tests at Pokhran range in Rajasthan,' Singh said.
Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath, deputy CMs Keshav Pradad Maurya, Brajesh Pathak and industrial development minister Nand Gopal Gupta 'Nandi' and others were present at the event. Rajnath Singh joined the event virtually from New Delhi.
'The project has been completed in record 40 months due to the support of CM Yogi Adityanath for making available all resources,' said Singh.
Earlier, addressing the gathering, Adityanath said, 'This is the same Uttar Pradesh which was once called a 'Bimaru' state. Today we are a revenue surplus state. Today, Uttar Pradesh has the largest network of expressways and metro in the country. Today the state has maximum airports, and four international airports are in operation. Soon, Asia's biggest airport (Noida Int'l airport) will be operational.' Adityanath said.
On the Defence Corridor project, he said that work was in progress in all six nodes of the corridor.
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