Chennai: Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar on Saturday said India’s retaliatory response to terrorism emanating from Pakistan and aggressive border skirmishes with China has shown that the country will not succumb to anyone’s pressure. He said the country will take all possible steps to ensure its security. Referring to the 2019 incident, Jaishankar said that a very important message was given through the Balakot air strike by the Indian Air Force in response to the Pulwama terrorist attack.

Addressing the 53rd anniversary of Tamil weekly ‘Thuglak’ in Chennai on Saturday evening, the External Affairs Minister said, ‘China is trying to change the status quo by violating our borders by bringing in large scale troops on the northern borders today. Despite COVID-19, our response was strong and determined. Our soldiers deployed in thousands guarded our borders in difficult terrains and they are still doing (guarding the borders) with full readiness.

S Jaishankar said, ‘National prosperity has many aspects and national security is undoubtedly its basic foundation. All countries are judged in this regard, but we had many problems from insurgency to cross-border terrorism. Balakot airstrikes have given a very important message. The External Affairs Minister said, “India is a country that will not succumb to anyone’s pressure and will do everything to ensure its security.”

The Union Minister said that if the country had not been partitioned in 1947, India would have been the largest country in the world, not China. He said, ‘You may wonder why the External Affairs Minister is talking about all this. During my travels abroad, I have heard praise about our (Covid-19) vaccines supplied to many developed countries and our technology-enabled governance.