india

Updated: Sep 27, 2019 18:43 IST

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said on Friday that the Centre was committed to maintaining the coastal security of the country since terror attacks targeting India’s coastline could not be ruled out.

“We cannot rule out that our neighbouring country’s terrorists can carry out a big incident on our coastline which extends from Kutch to Kerala. As Defence minister, I would like to assure that our country’s maritime security is absolutely strong and solidified. We are completely committed to coastal and maritime security,” Singh said.

The Defence minister was addressing a gathering at the 66th birthday celebrations of spiritual leader Mātā Amritānandamayī Devī at Kollam in Kerala. Singh said that India does not bother its neighbours, but if anybody bothered the country, the defence establishment would not let them “rest in peace”, referring to India’s air strikes deep inside Pakistan’s territory in Balakot in response to the deadly Pulwama attack.

Singh said that when he was Home minister, the Pulwama incident had taken place killing 40 CRPF soldiers and no one in the country would be able to forget the sacrifice of the CRPF personnel who had been killed in that terror attack.

“The country that does not remember the sacrifice of its soldiers, is not respected anywhere in the world,” Singh said. He also emphasized that the country should not forget that the soldiers who sacrifice their lives for the nation also have parents. “We should stand with them and honour the sacrifice made by the martyrs of their families,” the defence minister said.

According to counter-terror agencies in India, terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) has changed its name to Majlis Wurasa-e-Shuhuda Jammu wa Kashmir to ward off international pressure. Not only has it emerged with a new name, it is believed that the outfit has also prepared a group of 30 suicide attackers to hit India, particularly installations in military cantonments and convoys of Indian security forces in Jammu and Kashmir, in retaliation to the Centre scrapping Article 370 on August 5, 2019.

(With inputs from agencies).