AMN / NEW DELHI
Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat has said that the Indian armed forces have played a sterling role in national consolidation from the day one of India’s independence. He said, the primary role of the armed forces is to defend the territorial integrity of the nation state against external and internal threats.
General Bipin Rawat was delivering the annual Sardar Patel Memorial Lecture organised by All India Radio in New Delhi on the topic “Role of Indian Armed Forces in Nation Building. He said, Sardar Patel had immense faith in the institution of the Armed Forces of India. AIR correspondent reports, Strong and well-trained armed forces provide a credible deterrence to our potential adversaries. if this is achieved, developmental activities and nation-building can be progressed without external hindrance.
Territorial ambition of China and Pakistan require India’s armed forces to remain alert and deployed along disputed borders and also along the coastal region, round the year. It was Sardar Patel vision, that he sent the newly formed Indian Navy to Lakshadweep to consolidate Indian territory, as Pakistan had plans to occupy the strategic islands sitting astride the important Sea Lanes of Communication in the Indian Ocean and the Arabian Sea in particular.
The lecture will be broadcast on the occasion of Sardar Patel’s birth anniversary today across All India Radio Network at 9:30 PM.
The visual version of the lecture will be broadcast on DD National today at 10 PM.
Sardar Patel Memorial Lecture has been an annual tradition of All India Radio since 1955, wherein famous leaders, thinkers and opinion-makers present their views on select topics in front of an invited audience. The lecture is then broadcast across All India Radio network. Collection of all Sardar Patel Memorial lectures delivered by eminent personalities since 1955 is available on Prasar Bharati Archives YouTube channel.