Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during a surprise visit to a forward post in Ladakh today days after a deadly border clash with China, told troops that the nation’s enemies had seen their “fire and fury”. Describing the soldiers as “the braves of the soil”, the Prime Minister said the “weak can never accomplish peace, the brave do”.
Those who laid down their lives for the country belonged to all parts of India and epitomised its ethos of bravery, he said.
“Every single Indian across the world, especially in India, has the belief that you all can deliver and keep the nation strong and safe. Your courage is higher than the heights where you are stationed. Your arms are as strong as the mountains that surround you. Your confidence, determination and belief are as atal as the peaks here.” The PM’s visit was seen as a morale-booster for the army and a powerful statement against Chinese aggression at the Line of Actual Control since early May, which escalated to a deadly brawl on June 15 in which 20 soldiers were killed and over 70 injured. Army sources said 45 Chinese soldiers were killed or injured.
