Kargil Vijay Divas: People should be ready to participate in war directly, says Rajnath Singh

Earlier on Wednesday, Rajnath Singh laid a wreath and saluted the jawans who lost their lives during the 1999 Kargil conflict at the war memorial in Drass. After the wreath-laying ceremony, he interacted with veterans, ‘veer naris’, gallantry award recipients, and locals and conveyed his gratitude.

Regarding the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh stated on Wednesday that people should be prepared to “participate in the war not only indirectly but also directly”.

At the Kargil War Memorial in Drass, the Defence Minister spoke with soldiers and families of martyrs on the occasion of the 24th Kargil Vijay Divas. Referring to the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war Rajnath Singh said “The way the wars are being prolonged in recent times, I think, the public should be ready to participate in the war not only indirectly but also directly in the future. I believe that the public has to be mentally prepared for the fact that whenever the nation needs them, they should be ready to help the army,” he said while referring to the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war.

He emphasized that as every soldier is an Indian, in the same way, every Indian should always be ready to play the role of a soldier. Due to geographical and climatic circumstances, the Kargil War was one of the hardest battles ever fought.

“I want to assure the families and well-wishers of all the brave soldiers who were martyred in the Kargil conflict that we will never let their sacrifice, their memory fade away. National War Memorial is the symbol of our commitment,” he said.

While referring to the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war Rajnath added, “Our strategic affairs must be at work to find out the learnings of this war. When this war started, we learnt that almost the entire army of Ukraine and a large part of the Russian army suffered huge casualties. Since then, the war has been going on, because of the participation of the people. A large number of people there are fighting the war by joining the army after training.”

He said it is not the army that fights a war but is between two nations and the people of the respective countries.