'Want to make BrahMos so that no country has audacity to cast evil eye'

Lucknow: India wants to manufacture BrahMos missiles not to attack anyone but to ensure that no other country has the audacity to cast an evil eye on it, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said on Sunday, stressing the need to maintain nuclear deterrence.

On the occasion, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said the stand of the country is clear that it does not provoke first but also does not "spare anyone who provokes it".

"The BrahMos missile and other weapons we are manufacturing are not to attack any other country. It has never been the character of India to attack any other country or grab even an inch of the land of any country," Singh said.

"We want to manufacture BrahMos on Indian soil so that no country has the audacity to cast an evil eye on India," he said referring to the missile

that is capable of carrying a nuclear warhead.

"India should have nuclear deterrents so that no country in the world attacks us, and we have shown this," Singh said after laying foundation stones of the Defence Technologies and Test Centre and the BrahMos Manufacturing Centre here.

He also slammed Pakistan for carrying out terror attacks in the country.

"There is a neighbouring country. It got separated from India sometime back. I don't know why its intentions vis-a-vis India are always bad. It committed acts of terrorism in Uri and Pulwama," the defence minister said.

"And then our prime minister took a decision and we went to the soil of that country and destroyed terrorist hideouts and when there was a need for airstrikes, we did that successfully."

He added, "We gave the message that if somebody dares to cast an evil eye on us, then not just on this side of the border, but we can go to the other side and hit them. This is India's strength."

India carried out cross-border strikes in September 2016 and February 2019 in response to terror attacks in Uri and Pulwama.

Terming BrahMos the world's best and fastest precision-guided weapon which has strengthened India's credible deterrence in the 21st century, he said it not only reflects the technical cooperation but also the long-standing cultural, political and diplomatic ties between India and Russia.

The defence minister praised the Uttar Pradesh chief minister for expediting land acquisition for the projects.

"When I spoke to Yogiji and expressed the desire to establish this project, he did not take a second and said land will be made available at the earliest. I thank the chief minister for making 200 acres available in just one and a half months," he said.

Singh said the projects are important from the security point of view and hoped

that Uttar Pradesh will be

able to get a special place in terms of defence manufacturing units.

"This will provide jobs to people living in Lucknow and in Uttar Pradesh. I can see that a new chapter has been added to the economy of Uttar Pradesh," he added.

The defence minister also praised Adityanath for action against criminals. "Yogijee shows large-heartedness in everything but he shows miserliness ('kanjoosee') in one thing, he does not give any concessions to the mafia. Everywhere, bulldozers are being run. This is a 'balle-balle' (good) time not for the criminals, but for bulldozer owners," Singh said.