India is determined to protect its sovereignty and territorial integrity in the face of “unilateralism and aggression”, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said on Thursday, amid the border standoff with China in eastern Ladakh.

Speaking at a virtual ceremony on the occasion of Diamond Jubilee of the National Defence College, Singh said that India is a peace-loving country that believes differences should not become disputes. “We attach importance to the peaceful resolution of differences through dialogue,” he said.

The defence minister singled out Pakistan to claim that India has been able to improve its relations with all other neighbouring countries and expose Islamabad’s “regressive policies”.

Singh said that over the last six years, the Modi government has provided a “blueprint for India’s approach towards national security over the next decade”, which includes securing India’s territorial integrity and sovereignty, creating secure and stable conditions for economic growth, protecting the interests of Indians staying outside the country and sharing the security concerns of other countries.

Meanwhile, PTI reported that the eighth round of Corps Commander-level talks between India and China is likely to take place on Friday. Military heads of the two countries have engaged in several rounds of talks over the last three months after 20 Indian and an unknown number of Chinese soldiers were killed in violent clashes in Galwan Valley in Ladakh on June 15. However, these talks have failed to break the impasse.