Defence Minister Rajnath Singh told the Indian diaspora in Morocco that Pakistan-occupied Kashmir will come under India’s control peacefully, as calls for freedom are rising from within PoK itself.
Singh’s two-day Morocco visit marks the first by an Indian defence minister, with a Tata Advanced Systems facility inaugurated and an MoU on defence cooperation expected to be signed.
While speaking with the Indian diaspora in Morocco on Monday, India’s Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said that India will get control of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) without taking any aggressive steps, as the demand for freedom from the current administration will come from the people living there.
Singh is on a two-day visit to the North African of Morocco to dedicate a Tata Advanced Systems manufacturing facility to produce wheeled armoured personnel carriers in the country. The state visit began on September 21.
The visit will mark the first ever visit to Morocco by an Indian defence minister. The facility is also the first Indian defence manufacturing plant in Africa.
The defence minister said, “PoK will be ours on its own. Demands have started being made in PoK, you must have heard sloganeering.” He also mentioned that he had made similar claims five years ago while speaking at a program in Jammu and Kashmir.
“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’. The day will come,” Singh said.
The remarks come amid criticism from Opposition parties that by reaching a ceasefire in May after the four-day long military confrontation between India and Pakistan, the Central government had “missed the chance” to take PoK during Operation Sindoor, ANI reported.
The defence minister is also expected to sign a Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation in the field of Defence during his visit, providing bilateral defence engagement, exchange, training and industrial linkages.
