With the firing of 50 ton and about 17-metre long Agni- 5 intercontinental ballistic missile with a range of 5000 km, India has entered the group of five countries of the world that are armed with this lethal weapon. The beauty of adding this feather to the cap of our scientists and engineers is that this missile has been designed and produced by them independent of technical support from outside the country. As such we salute our engineers for bringing exceptional honour to the country and providing our security structure with cutting teeth capability. The missile was fired from mobile carrier at the Dr. Abdul Kalam island at Odisha with utmost precision. There was joy writ large on the faces of the ground engineers and scientists as they found the missile rising majestically in the space and along its meticulously scheduled course. The scientists and technocrats did not have success in their three previous attempts but at the end of the day they could make it happen.
It is a proud occasion for the nation. The entire nations joins our leadership in extending hearty congratulations to the team of scientists. We have no dearth of expertise, technology and ingenuity once our talent receives proper encouragement and facilities. This is not the end research exercise of our scientists. They will be breaking new earth in the field of science so as to keep India at par with scientifically advanced countries of the world.
Cynics and pessimists usually ask a question. Why does India go for expensive and ambitious enterprises when we know that nuclear bomb will not be used and cannot be used? We are often asked to answer that question. This would be a right and proper question if the planet of earth was inhabited by only saints and virtuous people who have the inner power of overcoming the brute within them. But unfortunately that is not the case. The brute within us is very much active and would not let humanity live in peace and tranquility. It is true that the Father of the Nation was an apostle of peace and gave his life for peace among human beings. But as said above, we cannot go on philosophizing when our very existence is threatened in more than one way. We have two die-hard enemies as our neighbours on the east and the west and they have now entered into unholy alliance against us. They would not want to see us becoming strong and prosperous; they think that we are a stumbling block in their way of leadership of the Asian Continent. These two countries, namely China and Pakistan, have forged sort of unholy alliance to fight a common enemy that India appears to them.
China has embarked on the policy of containing India and not allowing her the rightful place in the comity of nations. The more worrisome is that these two countries have forged unholy alliance against us and have adopted threatening postures. China has been playing the old game of laying claim to vast chunks of territory along her western and southern border with India. Chinese troops have been making a show of muscle power on our border in Ladakh and are claiming Arunachal Pradesh on the plea that the McMahan Line drawn by the British during their rule over India was arbitrary and not acceptable to them. The point is that China had no objection to the line when it was drawn and as long as the British ruled over India, China never raised any objection. How come that they have raised the issue now? Is this because they believe India is weak and cannot resist. It is to remove this and other doubts like this in the minds of our enemies that India had to testfire a lethal weapon like Agni-5. We are aware of the theory of “Necklace of Pearls” or the One Road One Belt theory of China which have military and strategic undercurrents running beneath them. We are aware that by vetoing against India on the motion of enlisting Pakistan-based terrorists and their organizations, China has given a clear signal to the world that she is on the side of international terrorism and terror organizations.
To China-Pakistan combine inimical designs and intentions like these, India’s answer has to be “Agni-5” We need to reinforce and strengthen our border security system in Ladakh and in the Easter States. We need to spread out a network of roads and tunnels across the mountains. We need to expand and modernize our air and naval ports and we need to produce from our factories and ordinances latest weaponry and war material. We have to learn to speak to these recalcitrant countries in their own language and sooner we take these actions the better.
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