Vidya Sethuraman
India Post News Service
Indian defense minister Rajnath Singh was here in the US to attend the India US 2+2 ministerial in Washington DC. Thereafter, he travelled to Hawaii for meetings at IndoPACOM headquarters and then to San Francisco. He addressed the Indian-American community in the San Francisco Bay Area. The event was organized by the Consulate General of India, San Francisco on April 14, 2022 at University of SiliconAndhra, Milpitas. The event was attended by over 500, which constituted retired Service officials, community leaders, elected officials of Indian origin, media and various Indian organization members.
At a reception hosted in his honor by the Indian Consulate in San Francisco, the Defense Minister told the select gathering about the velour shown by Indian soldiers on the border with China. Consul General TV Nagendra Prasad welcomed the Defense minister and various officials who were travelling with the minister from India.
“I cannot say openly what they (Indian soldiers) did and what decisions we (the government) took. But I can definitely say that a message has gone (to China) that India will not spare anyone, if India is harmed. (Bharat ko agar koi chherega to Bharat chhorega nahi),” he said. In a strong message to China, Defense Minister Rajnath Singh has said that if harmed, India will not spare anyone, as he asserted that India under Prime Minister Narendra Modi has emerged as a powerful country and is headed to be among the top three economies of the world.
Describing his five-day trip to the US as fruitful, Singh said he had a wonderful meeting with his American counterpart Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin. I congratulate you for maintaining this complete Indian identity, Singh said. Indians living outside India always feel pride in calling themselves Indians.
India and the United States, being the largest democratic powers, have the potential to establish global “peace and prosperity”. The relationship between the United States and India is multifaceted, economic, strategic, and defense as well, he said. India, he said, believes in having a bilateral relationship that is based on win-win for both the countries. Singh also added that in the past, if any country in the world wanted to develop and prosper, they always thought about establishing a vibrant trade with India.
Today we have a new and confident Bharat, he said, adding that India is now headed towards becoming a self-reliant country and the Modi government is taking several important steps in this regard, including in the defense sector, he said.
Singh had also visited the Hawaiian capital for a brief visit to the Headquarters of the United States Indo-Pacific Command (USINDOPACOM), a unified combatant command of America’s Armed Forces responsible for the key Indo-Pacific region. He paid floral tributes to Mahatma Gandhi ji at his statue in Honolulu.
Before the 2+2 Dialogue, Singh held a bilateral meeting with US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and reviewed the entire gamut of Indo-US defense ties and agreed to step up military-to-military relations. Rajnath Singh and Jaishankar also attended a virtual meeting between US President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
