Union Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar on Monday said India would welcome good relations with any of its neighbours, while commissioning India’s newest destroyer INS Chennai into service. Parrikar said that while friendly relations between neighbouring countries was always welcomed, it could not come at the cost of national security, ANI reported.
Parrikar also said that Indian troops were only responding to attacks along the Line of Control and not initiating them. He added that the situation was getting better and there was hope that it would improve further soon. India has also received assurances that a soldier being held captive in Pakistan after inadvertently crossing the Line of Control is safe, the minister said.
The INS Chennai is a Kolkata-class guided missile destroyer built by the Mazgaon Dock Shipbuilders Limited in Mumbai. The ship will be placed under the operational control of the Western Naval Command, The Indian Express reported. It will then be assigned to the Western Fleet and based in Mumbai following additional trials of ship-borne systems. It is among the largest destroyers conducted in India.
Parrikar’s remarks came a day after he said the Indian Army was eager to “teach [a] lesson to our enemy” and was only waiting for permission from the government to do so. Relations between India and Pakistan have worsened since a militant attack on an Army installation in the Uri sector of Jammu and Kashmir killed 19 soldiers. Surgical strikes by the Army following the Uri attack and the growing number of ceasefire violations have led to a further deterioration in relations between the two countries.
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