STATE TIMES NEWS

Siliguri (WB): Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Sunday asserted that considering the development taking place in India, the people of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir will themselves demand to be with this country.
Singh also said India was taking giant strides in the defence sector, maintaining that the country is fast turning into a defence-equipment exporting nation from that of an importer.
“PoK was, is and will remain ours,” Singh said, addressing a rally at Siliguri in Darjeeling constituency, where the BJP has renominated sitting MP Raju Bista.
“The way the country is developing and its economy growing, the people of PoK will themselves demand to be with India,” he claimed.
The senior BJP leader said India has attained a stature where no one can browbeat the country. Singh also asserted that India does not interfere in the matters of others, “but if we are interfered with… you understand what will happen”. India will be among the top three economies in the world in a few years, he added.

Defence Minister to visit Siachen today

New Delhi: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will on Monday visit Siachen and interact with the soldiers deployed at the world’s highest battlefield.
Last week, the Indian Army marked the 40th year of its presence on the strategically significant Siachen Glacier.
The Siachen Glacier at the height of around 20,000 feet in the Karakoram range is known as the highest militarised zone in the world where the soldiers have to battle frostbite and high winds. Under its ‘Operation Meghdoot’, the Indian Army established its full control over the Siachen Glacier in April, 1984.
“Raksha Mantri Shri @rajnathsingh will visit Siachen tomorrow. He will interact with the Armed Forces personnel deployed in the region,” Singh’s office said on ‘X’.
The Indian Army strengthened its presence in Siachen over the last few years.
In January last year, Captain Shiva Chauhan from the Army’s Corps of Engineers was posted at a frontline post in Siachen Glacier, in the first such operational deployment of a woman Army officer at key battlefield. “The Indian Army’s control over Siachen Glacier has not only been a story of unparalleled valour and determination but also an incredible journey of technological advancements and logistical improvements that transformed it from one of the most formidable terrains into a symbol of indomitable spirit and innovation,” an Army official had said last week.