Defence Minister Rajnath Singh made a bold statement while interacting with the Indian community in Morocco on Monday and said that Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir (PoK) will one day declare its Indian identity and say ‘main bhi bharat hoon’. He highlighted how people in the region itself have been demanding freedom from the current administration.
The defence minister’s remark came as Opposition leaders came down heavily on the central government for agreeing to a ‘ceasefire’ during Operation Sindoor against Pakistan in May this year. The leaders from various parties also claimed that India had “missed the chance” to capture PoK during that time.
“PoK will be ours on its own. Demands have started being made in PoK, you must have heard sloganeering,” Rajnath Singh said, as quoted by ANI.
“I was addressing the Indian Army at a program in Kashmir Valley five years ago, I had then said that we will not need to attack and capture PoK, it is anyway ours; PoK itself will say, ‘Main bhi Bharat Hoon’. That day will come,” the Defence Minister further added.
Rajnath Singh is on a two-day visit to Morocco where he is set to inaugurate the Tata Advanced Systems’ new manufacturing facility for the Wheeled Armoured Platform (WhAP) 8×8 at Berrechid, making it the first-ever Indian defence manufacturing plant in Africa. This is the first-ever visit by an Indian Defence Minister to Morocco. He will also hold a bilateral meeting with his Moroccan counterpart Abdeltif Loudiyi.
India and Morocco are expected to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Cooperation in the field of Defence during Rajnath Singh’s visit.
