Guwahati: Raksha Mantri Rajnath Singh paid a visit to Kamakhya temple atop Nilachal Hills on the southern bank of mighty river Brahmaputra on Friday and prayed to the deity before leaving for New Delhi. As the temple remains closed till 30 June because of the Covid-19 pandemic, the defense minister prayed in front of the temple’s main door. The Union minister also visited the newly erected 300 bedded corona care hospital set up by the DRDO at Sarusajai sports complex in the city, where Assam chief minister Dr. Himanta Biswa Sarma accompanied him. Singh spent the night at Raj Bhavan, and Governor professor Jagadish Mukhi hosted a dinner in his honor, where CM Sarma, former CM Sarbananda Sonowal, legislative assembly speaker Biswajit Daimary with others were present.
Singh on Thursday dedicated 12 roads built by the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) in the northern and eastern border areas to the national understanding that these roads would play a significant role in national security and development of the north-eastern region. Attending an event at Lakhimpur in eastern Assam, Singh inaugurated a 20-km long Kimin-Potin (double lane) path along with nine other roads in Arunachal Pradesh and one each in the union territories of Ladakh and Jammu & Kashmir.
BRO implemented the projects through Arunank, Vartak, Brahmank, Udayak, Himank, Sampark, and many other initiatives. Speaking on the occasion, the Union minister commented that the new roads hold strategic and socio-economic importance as those would play an important role in strengthening national security and promoting development in the region.
“These roads will help fulfill the needs of our armed forces and transporting necessities like medicines and ration to remote areas,” said Singh adding that these projects were part of the Centre’s Act East Policy where the main emphasis is on the overall development of border areas. He reiterated the resolve of Prime Minister Narendra Modi led the Union government in New Delhi for the comprehensive development of the north-eastern region, describing it as the gateway to the eastern Asian countries. Singh also paid tributes to the soldiers who showed exemplary courage during the Galwan valley incident last year, and many of them made supreme sacrifices.
In the presence of CM Sarma, Arunachal Pradesh chief minister Pema Khandu, DoNER Minister Dr. Jitendra Singh (virtually), Union minister Kiren Rijiju, chief of defense staff General Bipin Rawat, BRO director general Lt Gen Rajeev Chaudhry with others, Singh asserted that Bharat is a peace-loving nation but its response to aggression has been resolute.
He also touched upon some crucial reforms undertaken by the Centre underlining the constant efforts to make the country self-reliant in defense manufacturing under the AatmaNirbhar Bharat initiative envisioned by PM Modi saying the government is actively working towards making Bharat a defense manufacturing hub reducing its dependence on imports.
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