Last Updated:
Rajnath Singh highlights India’s decisive actions like Operation Sindoor, Balakot airstrike, and surgical strike to protect unity and citizens’ safety.

Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh. (IMAGE: PTI)
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has asserted that India will never compromise whenever its pride and dignity are at stake and can cross any border whenever necessary to protect its citizens and safeguard India’s unity and integrity.
Citing the 2016 surgical strike, 2019 Balakot airstrike and the recent Operation Sindoor, the Union Minister said that the NDA government had shown its readiness to take decisive action when the protection of India’s citizens and integrity were at stake, news agency PTI reported.
Recommended Stories
“When it comes to India’s glory and dignity, we never compromised. Whether it is 2016 surgical strike, 2019 airstrike or 2025 Operation Sindoor, we have proved that we will cross any borders, whenever there is a need, for the cause of India’s unity and integrity and for protecting the life of every citizen and the country,” he said as quoted by the news agency.
While speaking at ’JITO Connect’ organised by Jain International Trade Organisation (JITO) in Hyderabad on Friday, Singh said that innocent people were killed in the Pahalgam terror attack by being identified by their religion, but India did not see religion when it conducted surgical strikes against Pakistan.
“The government only targeted terrorist centres to punish those responsible for the Pahalgam terrorist attack. We never attacked any military or civilian establishment there. If we wanted, we could have done that earlier, but we did not,” he said.
He further asserted that the central government’s focus on boosting military and economic power is not aimed at domination but to safeguard the ideals rooted in religion, faith and human values, which are reflected in Bhagwan Mahavir’s teachings.
Highlighting the country’s strides towards self-reliance, the Defence Minister said that the dependence on foreign countries is declining continuously. Referring to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s slogan of ’local for global’ and ’vocal for local’, he said the country is now producing a wide range of products, “from toys to tanks.”
In the early hours of May 7, Indian Defence Forces launched precision strikes at nine terror camps in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) under “Operation Sindoor” in response to the dastardly Pahalgam terror attack, which claimed 26 lives. The strikes killed over 100 terrorists, including 10 family members of Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) chief Masood Azhar and four close aides.
(With inputs from PTI)
About the Author

Shobhit Gupta is a sub-editor at News18.com and covers India and International news. He is interested in day to day political affairs in India and geopolitics. He earned his BA Journalism (Hons) degree from Ben…Read More
Shobhit Gupta is a sub-editor at News18.com and covers India and International news. He is interested in day to day political affairs in India and geopolitics. He earned his BA Journalism (Hons) degree from Ben… Read More
October 04, 2025, 17:37 IST
Loading comments…
Read More