He underlined Pakistan’s terror links saying that Al Qaeda founder Osama Bin Laden was found in that country

Union defence minister Rajnath Singh launched a scathing attack on Pakistan on Saturday as he accused the country of making terrorism a state policy and continuing its misadventures against India despite losing four wars.

His comments came while addressing Gentlemen Cadets (GC) at the Passing out Parade (PoP) of Indian Military Academy (IMA).

“India has a hostile neighbour at its Western front - Pakistan which has terrorism as its state policy. Because of that you (Gentlemen Cadets) have to be prepared all the time to fight terrorism,” said Singh.

He said, “Our government has adopted a multi-pronged strategy against terrorism which is yielding results. But we still need to be on alert because Pakistani non-state actors involved in terrorism activities have become so powerful that the state actors have turned into mere puppets in their hands there.”

He underlined Pakistan’s terror links saying that Al Qaeda founder Osama Bin Laden was found in that country.

“History proves that India has never attacked any foreign country nor has ever interfered in their matters. But Pakistan always does that.”

Singh said, “The leaders of terror outfit Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) who planned the deadly 26/11 attacks in Mumbai are also sitting in Pakistan. The families of victims of that the attack would only get justice when they (LeT terrorists) will meet their end.”

Singh also addressed security concerns in the Northern and North-Eastern fronts against China.

“India has some territorial differences against China as the border between them is yet to be clearly demarcated. Our armed forces need to show both courage and wisdom at the Indo-China border which it has done in the past like in Doklam dispute where they showed extraordinary determination to avoid an armed conflict,” he said.

The minister also warned the cadets who were commissioned as officers in the Indian Army about future challenges apart from conventional war.

“There would be challenges like fake news, use of false identities to create doubt and confusion in the armed forces and hacking into critical infrastructure by enemy countries to access sensitive information which would be one step ahead of terrorism. To fight these, you (GCs) should also gain expertise in cyber weaponry apart from conventional weaponry,” said Singh.

He assured the newly commissioned officers of standing alongside them. “From now on the Defence ministry would take care of the well being of yours as well as your family members.”

Out of a total of 377 Gentlemen Cadets who earned their stripes on Saturday, 71 were from friendly foreign countries.

Out of the Indian GCs, the maximum was from Uttar Pradesh with while among the foreign GCs, Afghanistan had the maximum cadets with 47.

The coveted award of Sword of Honour and Gold Medal was won by Gentleman Cadet Vinay Vilas Garad from Maharashtra.