Ladakh Lieutenant Governor B D Mishra asserted on Monday that not even one square inch of Indian land has been occupied by China and that the armed forces are prepared to give "a bloody nose" to anyone engaging in any misadventure.
Asked about Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's remark on China occupying a large chunk of land in Ladakh, he said, "I won't comment on anybody's statement. But I will say what is fact because I have seen myself on the ground that not even one square inch of land which the Chinese have occupied."
"Whatsoever happened in 1962 that is immaterial. But today we are in occupation of our land to the last inch," he said.
Mishra, a retired Brigadier, was here to attend the three-day North Tech Symposium being organised by the Army.
Responding to reporters' queries on the sidelines of the event, he said, "Our armed forces are prepared for any eventuality, and God forbid if the balloon goes up, people will get a bloody nose from us."
He said the morale of troops is very very high. "Their intent is to defend every square inch of land. Nobody can dare to come towards India with any design to have a foothold here. I think all the credit goes to great leadership under Prime Minister Narendra Modi," he said.
Asked whether weapons have been identified and procured to be deployed along the Line of Control (LoC) to boost security, he said it is being done.
"...when I was commissioned in the Army in 1961...there was nothing indigenous in my battalion. Our rifles, .303 small arms were made in Birmingham. The watch we got was made in Switzerland. Today, there is nothing that is not indigenous," he added.
A large number of companies and start-ups are showcasing their military equipment at the North Tech Symposium which began on the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) campus on the outskirts of Jammu on Monday.
The symposium facilitates a structured approach to product evaluation, prioritisation, and acquisition while contributing actionable inputs for procurement plans.
