Defence minister Rajnath Singh on Saturday said that “every inch” of Pakistani territory was now within the range of India’s BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles, and suggested that Operation Sindoor was “only a trailer”.
“Operation Sindoor has proved that victory is a habit with us now. We need to maintain this habit while continually strengthening ourselves. Operation Sindoor took the trial of the BrahMos far ahead and provided practical proof,” Rajnath said, reading out from a written speech.
“The country has confidence that our adversaries will not be able to escape our BrahMos. As far as Pakistan is concerned, every inch of its territory is now within reach of the BrahMos.”
Rajnath was speaking after flagging off the first batch of four BrahMos missiles produced at the BrahMos Integrated and Testing Facility in Lucknow, his parliamentary constituency.
Striking an aggressive note, he said: “Operation Sindoor was only a trailer; this operation has convinced (India’s) enemies that if India can give birth to Pakistan, then it can….”
Leaving the sentence unfinished, he went on to say: “I don’t need to say anything more because you are intelligent enough to understand what I mean.”
During the May 7-10 Operation Sindoor, when India targeted terror infrastructure and defence installations within Pakistan, it had used BrahMos missiles to damage Pakistani airbases.
Rajnath resorted to a Bollywood-style one-liner to underline that India, known as a major buyer of defence equipment, was now in a position to sell its indigenously developed missile systems to other countries.
“We are no longer the takers, we are now in the role of givers,” the defence minister said.
He said India had signed a ₹4,000-crore contract with two countries, whose scientists would soon visit the Lucknow facility. He added that many countries were interested in technological coordination with India.
Rajnath said the Lucknow facility would achieve a turnover of ₹3,000 crore and contribute about ₹500 crore in GST.
“What can be a bigger Dhanteras than this? While our defence system is growing, Goddess Lakshmi is there to bless us for our economy,” he read out.
Chief minister Yogi Adityanath, who attended the event, said the project was an example of Indian self-reliance.
Built at a cost of ₹380 crore, on a 200-acre plot within the Uttar Pradesh Defence Industrial Corridor, the facility is expected to produce 100 missiles a year.
Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav sought to question Rajnath’s claims.
“I don’t want to say much against anybody on the occasion of Dhanteras, but they (the BJP government) have not manufactured even one unit of electricity in the state,” he said.
“Where will they bring it (electricity) from (to run an industry)? We can’t expect anything from their fuljhari (sparkler).”
Munir warning
Pakistan Army chief Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir on Saturday warned India of a “decisive response” to even a minor provocation, saying there is no space for war in a “nuclearised environment”.
Munir was addressing a graduation ceremony of passing out army cadets at the Pakistan Military Academy Kakul at Abbottabad in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
“I advise and firmly caution India’s military leadership that there is no space for war in a nuclearised environment,” he said. “We will never be intimidated, not coerced by rhetoric and will respond decisively to even a minor provocation without any qualms.”
Munir also accused India of using terrorism as a weapon to destabilise Pakistan, saying a handful of terrorists cannot harm Pakistan and warned that all “proxies” using Afghan soil would be “raised to dust”, in an apparent reference to Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan.
He also urged India tosettle “core issues” in accordance with international norms, an apparent reference to the Kashmir dispute,while reiterating Pakistan’s commitment to provide “moral and diplomatic support” to the people of Jammu and Kashmir.
Additional reporting by PTI