India ready to cross LoC to maintain its honour: Rajnath Singh

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Wednesday said India is ready to cross the Line of Control (LoC) to maintain its honour and dignity, and called upon civilians to be ready to support the soldiers in such a situation.

Citing the example of the Russia-Ukraine war, he said the war has been going on for more than a year because civilians have stepped up and are participating in the war.

Singh was speaking at the Kargil War Memorial here on the occasion of the 24th Kargil Vijay Diwas. Earlier, he paid laid a wreath at the memorial to pay tributes to the soldiers who laid down their lives in the 1999 Kargil war. Singh said the Kargil war was imposed on India.

"We were backstabbed by Pakistan... The war was imposed on India. I salute our brave sons who put the country first and sacrificed their lives," he said.

The minister further said, "Whenever there has been a war situation, our public has always supported the forces but that support has been indirect. I urge the public to be ready to support the soldiers directly in the battlefield if the need arises." "We can go to any extreme to maintain the honour and dignity of the country... If that includes crossing the LoC, we are ready to do that," he said.

The Indian Army had launched a fierce counterassault to push back Pakistani forces that had stealthily occupied important heights in Ladakh in 1999.

Kargil Vijay Diwas is observed to mark India's victory over Pakistan.