Our country’s border is safe, says the Union Defence Minister

Union Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar on Saturday said India did not seek war, but would “gouge out the eyes” of the enemy if provoked.

“We don’t itch for a fight, but if someone looks at the country with an evil eye, we will gouge his eyes out and put them back in his hand — we have that much power,” he said while addressing a rally in the Aldona Assembly constituency in Goa.

“When I went to the Centre, you can say with pride to the entire country, that one of our own went there and slapped the enemy, which in the past was glaring at us, four times across its cheeks,” Mr. Parrikar said.

Quiet border

“There was no firing on the border for the last three days because if they (Pakistan) fire once, we fire twice at them. We are giving tit-for-tat response, and when they realised it, they approached us, seeking to stop it,” Mr. Parrikar said in an apparent reference to the request by Pakistan for DGMO-level talks three days ago.

The former Goa Chief Minister also recalled words of wisdom from his mother, which he said he recalls often, especially when dealing with Pakistan.

“If you go to hunt hares in a forest, be prepared to fight a tiger, my mother used to tell me. I have not forgotten what she told me when I was a child... Our country’s border is safe, the country’s economic backbone is secure. This, people have realised after demonetisation,” Mr. Parrikar said.

Dares ‘enemies’

Mr. Parrikar also dared enemies to shoot him, saying he had given up his official bullet-proof Ambassador and was using a non-bullet proof vehicle.

“The car stopped after every two days. I bid goodbye to the Ambassador and asked for a regular white car without bullet proofing. If someone wants to shoot me, shoot me. But as far as those who wish to shoot these bullets are concerned, we will not let them reach Delhi alive,” Mr Parrikar said.

He said that due to the Centre's demonetisation move, the rate of crime in Mumbai, including contract killings, murders, extortion and drug trafficking, had come down drastically.