Defence Minister let his actions speak: Modi lauds Parrikar on surgical strikes

'Like our army doesn't say but displays its valour, similarly our Defence Minister lets his work speak for him.'

Bhopal: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday lauded the Indian Army and Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar for carrying out surgical strikes to eliminate terrorists across LoC and said that they let their work speak for themselves, while addressing ex-servicemen during the inauguration of a war memorial in Bhopal.

-"Like our army doesn't say speak but displays its valour, similarly our Defence Minister also doesn't speak, but lets his work talk for him,-" Modi said.

Modi also thanked the Army for the sacrifices made by them and said they are an example for the world.

-"While rescuing Indians in Yemen, Indian army also rescued a few Pakistanis, this is the example of humanity of our Indian army,-" Modi said, taking a dig at the Pakistani army. He said that Indian soldiers do not think twice before rescuing Pakistani nationals, they didn't think -"these are the people who pelt stones at us-".

-"It is the call of humanity that inspires our armed forces when they're helping people during natural disasters. Nothing else matters,-" he said.

Following are highlights from his speech:

When we talk about our soldiers, it is mostly about their uniform, their valour but we must also see them as an example of humanity.

Army, BSF, CRPF, Coast Guard jawans sacrifice their lives so that we can sleep peacefully

About 1.5 lakhs Indian soldiers fought and lost their lives during the two World Wars. World must never forget this

The biggest strength & weapon of our army is its determination & will power & that is derived from the support of 1.2 billion people

Previous Governments had made empty promises on OROP but when we came to power we fulfilled our promise and implemented it

Government had decided to give skill development training to soldiers in last year of service so that they don't have to struggle for jobs

The Madhya Pradesh government on Friday declared a -"special holiday-" for government offices in the city after 3 pm.

-"The state government has declared a special holiday on October 14 keeping in view the Shaurya Smarak dedication programme and traffic and security arrangements,-" an official release said.

(This story first appeared in Deccan Chronicle)