Kargil war changed world’s view about India: PM Modi

Prime Minister NarendraModi on Saturday said the Kargil war of 1999 had changed the world’s perception about India.

Addressing a gathering to commemorate the 20th anniversaryof the Kargil war, the Prime Minister said modernisation of the armed forceswas a priority of his government as the wars have now reached the space and arebeing fought even in the cyber world.

   

In 1999, Pakistani Army had captured the mountainous heightsin Kargil in Ladakh region of Jammu and Kashmir and India undertook militaryaction to evict them.

“We foiled Pakistan’s deception in Kargil… This warchanged the perception of the world towards India… We exposed the deceitfulplans of Pakistan to re-draw the Line of Control (LoC). The world witnessedthat we never initiated any act of violence and instead gave a befittingreply,” Modi said.

Quoting the then Prime Minister AtalBihari Vajpayee on theepisode, Modi said Pakistan had launched the misadventure, thinking that Indiawould seek the help of the international community and foreign powers wouldstep in to mediate.

However, India did nothing like that and on its own used themilitary power to throw out the Pakistani Army, the Prime Minister said.

Hailing the armed forces for their exceptional valourdisplayed while recapturing the mountain peaks of Kargil, Modi named a few ofthose decorated for their bravery.

He recalled the ParamVir Chakra awardee Captain VikramBatra,who had famously said, “YehDilMaange More” and said the lateofficer’s “heart wasn’t asking for himself, not for a religion, languageor caste, but for the whole Bharat, for ‘MaaBharati’.”

Paying tributes to the armed forces for safeguarding theborders of the country, he emphasized modernization to make them in tune withthe modern warfare scenario.

“Today, the wars have reached the space. Wars are beingfought even in the cyber world. So, the modernization of defence forces is notonly a necessity but also our priority”, said Modi

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