Rajnath Singh in J&K: BSF 'fencing wire' of the country, ready for any situation

On Thursday, June 16, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, who is on a two-day visit to Jammu & Kashmir, lavished praises on the Border Security Force, calling them the 'fencing wire of the country.'

While addressing the Indian Armed Forces personnel of the Baramulla Cantt, the leader said," Pakistan has its policy of 'bleed India with 1000s of cuts', but you (BSF) are the fencing wire of the country because of which they themselves get cut. Country trusts you, they know you are ready for any situation."

He also said, "Militants conduct attacks on the Indian side on a regular basis however the militant attacks have reduced drastically and the credit has to be given to the security forces, soldiers of CRPF, BSF and the J&K police. I congratulate you all on your success." 

Following his remarks, the Union Minister had lunch with Army personnel in Baramulla.

Prior to his speech, Rajnath Singh paid tribute to the Army jawans who sacrificed their lives two years ago in the Galwan valley fight. As many as 20 Indian soldiers had lost their lives in a violent fight with the Chinese PLA in eastern Ladakh in June 2020. "Remembering the heroes of Galwan who fought valiantly for the honour of the country and laid down their lives on June 15-16, 2020. Their courage, bravery and supreme sacrifice will never be forgotten. I pay homage to those bravehearts," he said in a tweet.

Rajnath Singh's 2-day tour to consist of review of security for the Amarnath Yatra

Singh had arrived in J&K on Thursday. He also visited the forward areas, where he was seen overseeing the security along the LoC.  Sharing photos on Twitter, he wrote, "Visited a forward post in Jammu & Kashmir today and reviewed India’s preparedness along the LoC."

Among the events that are a part of his itinerary, was the 200th anniversary of Maharaja Gulab Singh Ji’s ‘Rajyabhishek Ceremony’ in Jammu on June 17. Ahead of the Amarnath Yatra, which is scheduled to begin on June 30, the leader will be visiting the base camp in Pahalgam to assess the security arrangements.

(With inputs from ANI/PTI)