NEW DELHI, Dec 17: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Saturday said India aspires to be superpower and work for the welfare of the entire world and emphasised that “we will never have the intention to capture even one inch of land of any other country”.
Addressing the FICCI Annual Convention and AGM in the national capital, the union minister said, “We want to be a superpower to work for the welfare of the world.”
“Prime Minister (Narendra Modi) during his address from Red Fort talked about five pledges to the country, which are essential to make India super power and it shouldn’t be considered that we want to dominate any country or we have the intention to capture even one inch of land of any other country,” Singh said.
Speaking on the recent India-China border clash, the Defence Minister said, “Whether it is Galwan or Tawang, our defence forces have proved their bravery and valour.”
“In 1949, China’s GDP was lower than that of India. Until 1980, India was not even in the list of top 10 economies… In 2014, India was on the 9th position in world economies. Today India is close to a $3.5 trillion economy and 5th largest in the world,” Rajnath Singh said as he spoke on ‘India@100: AmritKaal- Sustainable & Inclusive’. (Agencies)

NEW DELHI, Dec 17: With 167 fresh cases, India’s COVID-19 tally has climbed to 4,46,75,776, while the number of active cases of the infection has declined to 3,608, the Union health ministry said on Saturday. The death toll due to the viral disease has gone up to 5,30,667 with four more fatalities, including three reconciled by Kerala and one reported by Maharashtra in the last 24 hours, according to the ministry’s data updated at 8 am.
The active cases account for 0.01 per cent of the total caseload, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate has increased to 98.8 per cent, according to the ministry’s website.
A decrease of 83 cases was recorded in the active Covid caseload in a span of 24 hours, the ministry said.
The number of people who have recuperated from the disease has gone up to to 4,41,41,501, while the case fatality rate was recorded at 1.19 per cent.
According to the ministry’s website, 219.99 crore doses of Covid vaccines have so far been administered to beneficiaries across the country.
India’s COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7, 2020, 30 lakh on August 23, 2020, 40 lakh on September 5, 2020 and 50 lakh on September 16, 2020.
It went past 60 lakh on September 28, 2020, 70 lakh on October 11, 2020, 80 lakh on October 29, 2020, 90 lakh on November 20, 2020 and the one-crore mark on December 19, 2020.
The country crossed the grim milestone of two crore Covid cases on May 4, 2021, three crore cases on June 23, 2021 and the four-crore mark on January 25 this year. (Agencies)

NEW DELHI, Dec 16: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi alleged on Friday that China is preparing for war and the Indian government is sleeping over it and trying to ignore the threat. He also alleged that China has taken away 2,000 square kilometres of Indian territory, killed 20 Indian soldiers and is “thrashing our jawans in Arunachal Pradesh”.
“I can see the threat of China very clearly. I have been clear on this for the last two-three years, but the government is trying to hide it and ignore it. This threat can neither be hidden or ignored. Going by their full offensive preparation that is on in Arunachal Pradesh and Ladakh, the Indian government is asleep,” Gandhi told a press conference in Jaipur.
“The government does not want to hear this but their (China’s) preparation is on. The preparation is for war. It is not for incursion, but for war. If you look at their weapon pattern, what they are doing — they are preparing for war. Our government hides this and is not able to accept it,” the former Congress chief said.
He said this is happening because the Narendra Modi government does event-based work and does not work strategically.
“They think in terms of event management but where geostrategy is involved, event-based action does not work, power works there. I have said three-four times that we should be careful and understand what is happening. They keep making statements, I see the external affairs minister keeps making remarks, I should not say it, but he should deepen his understanding,” Gandhi said.
The Congress has been accusing the BJP-led government of succumbing to pressure from China and not taking on the neighbouring country after its frequent transgressions at the border.
The opposition party has been saying that the prime minister should take on China and address the border issues with it strongly by looking “eye to eye”.
The Congress has also been seeking a discussion in Parliament on the border issue and Chinese transgressions at the border. (Agencies)

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will hold nationwide protests on Saturday against the “derogatory” remarks made by Pakistani foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari against Prime Minister Narendra Modi that sparked outrage across the country.

“The protests will be held in all the state capitals across the country. BJP karyakartas will burn the effigy of Pakistan and Pakistani Foreign Minister and will strongly condemn the shameful statement of Pakistani Foreign Minister,” BJP said in a statement on Friday. This outrage comes in response to the Pakistani foreign minister’s defamatory remarks made during a press conference at the United Nations in New York.

Describing Bilawal Bhutto’s remark as “highly derogatory and full of cowardice”, BJP said the remarks were given to divert global attention from Pakistan’s collapsing economy, lawlessness and anarchy in Pakistan.

“The statement is also aimed at misleading the world and divert global attention from Pakistan’s collapsing economy, lawlessness and anarchy in Pakistan, simmering differences in the Pakistani army, its deteriorating global relations and the fact that Pakistan has become the major sanctuary for terrorists,” it said.

On Friday, BJP workers staged a protest outside Pakistan High Commission in Delhi against Bilawal’s statement. The BJP said that India’s foreign policy is being appreciated globally, while Pakistan is facing backlash from even smaller nations.

“On one hand we have our Prime Minister Narendra Modi under whose leadership India has left its indelible mark on various global fora, and on the other hand, we have Pakistan which has faced ridicule and insult on various international platforms. On one hand, India’s foreign policy is being appreciated globally, while on the other hand, Pakistan is facing backlash from even smaller nations,” the BJP said.

The party said that everyone saw how even the Pakistani students were rescued during the rescue mission carried out during the Russia-Ukraine conflict which was carried out under the guidance of PM Modi.

BJP said the kind of language Bilawal Bhutto has used is extremely reprehensible which does not reflect the true spirit of statesmanship and also crosses the limit of decency in public life.

“Does Bilawal Bhutto even have the stature to comment about our Prime Minister Narendra Modi ji who is a true statesman and a highly respected global leader! This demeaning statement of Bilawal Bhutto had further lowered the image of Pakistan on the global platform,” it added.

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) also slammed Pakistan’s Foreign Minister for his “uncivilized outburst” at Prime Minister Modi and said that “these comments are a new low, even for Pakistan.”

“Pakistan foreign minister’s frustration would be better directed towards the masterminds of terrorist enterprises in his own country, who have made terrorism a part of their state policy. Pakistan needs to change its own mindset or remain a pariah,” MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said in response to media queries.

NEW DELHI: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday asked Indian industry to work out strategies as to how businesses operating in developed countries can look at India as a production or sourcing hub amid recession fears in the western countries.

India has brought in a lot of facilitation and tweaking of rules to attract foreign investment into India and is also engaging with industries who want to co-locate in the country, the minister said.

“As much as you are preparing yourself for a long-drawn recession in the Western world, in the Developed world, I think it is also the best time for you to work out strategies for drawing those manufacturers from there to India.

“Even as they are headquartered there, it might be useful for them to think of sourcing many things from here and producing from here at least for markets in this part of the globe,” Sitharaman said at an event here.

She said the suspected long-drawn recession, which is likely to affect Europe, is not just going to affect exports by Indian businesses. “It gives an opportunity for many of the investments which are there, which are now looking for a different place from where activities can continue to happen,” she noted.

Asking the industry to look at innovations by startups and find ways to scale them, the minister said India will continue to focus on manufacturing and newer areas of services.

As the world transitions into clean energy, the domestic industry could face higher tariffs by the developed countries, Sithraman said.

She also asked India Inc to tell the government how climate change is affecting them and suggest ways to reduce the burden of cost falling on them. The industry should prepare itself for tariff walls by some countries in the name of climate change, the minister added.

Talking about the upcoming Budget, she said it would follow the spirit of earlier Budgets to prepare India for the next 25 years.