BJP president J P Nadda on Tuesday asserted that his party will always remain committed to national security and the armed forces can rest assured that the political leadership is standing by them with honesty.
Speaking at an event at the party headquarters here to mark 'Kargil Vijay Diwas', he said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has provided a "decisive" leadership and cited a number of decisions taken by the government to laud him.
Pakistan was replied in its own language through surgical and air strikes after terror attacks in Uri and Pulwama respectively, Nadda said and took a jibe at the opposition parties for allegedly seeking proof of the armed forces' action.
When Modi came to power in 2014, armed forces suffered from a shortage of arms and ammunition. The earlier governments did not improve border infrastructure because they thought this will "anger" China and defence deals were marred by scams, he said.
Crucial defence purchase was avoided for fear of scams, he added. Since the BJP came to power, 36 Rafale fighter aircraft have been inducted into the Indian Air Force besides 28 and 15 Apache and Chinook helicopters, respectively Nadda said.
There was a shortage of bulletproof jackets earlier but India is exporting them now, he added. He said the first discussions about having a National War Memorial had happened in 1960, and the Congress-led UPA government made a committee for this in 2006 but nothing moved. It was only after the Modi government assumed office, it was conceptualised and then completed in 2019, Nadda said.
The BJP president also paid homage to the armed forces personnel who made the supreme sacrifice in the Kargil war. "I paid homage to all those martyrs who made the Supreme Sacrifice to defend Maa Bharti at the BJP HQ in New Delhi. Their valour, courage & bravery will always inspire us. We remain forever indebted to our men & women in uniform. Jai Jawan," he later tweeted.
In his speech, Nadda also lauded then prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's leadership, saying he refused to enter into talks with his Pakistan counterpart Nawaz Sharif despite US president Bill Clinton's suggestions to him for this. Vajpayee said he will not talk unless every inch of Indian land is recovered, Nadda said.
(With PTI Inputs)
