Chennai: The National Security Advisor (NSA), Ajit Doval, on Friday said that India hit nine terrorist targets criss-crossing Pakistan during Operation Sindoor and “missed none”.
Addressing the 62nd convocation of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT)-Madras, Doval challenged the foreign press, asking them “to show even one image” of the damage to the Indian side during the operation.
“We decided to have nine terrorist targets in the criss-cross of Pakistan; they were not in the border areas. We missed none. We hit nowhere else except that. It was precise to the point where we knew who was where. The entire operation took 23 minutes, starting five minutes past one and ending 28 minutes past one (on May 8),” he said.
“Foreign press said that Pakistan did this and that…The New York Times put out images and wrote things…You tell me one photograph, one image, which shows any damage to any Indian structure, even a glass pane being broken… Forces know the truth. The images only showed 13 air bases in Pakistan before and after May 10, whether it was in Sargodha, Rahim Yar Khan, or Chaklala. We are capable of doing that,” he said.
Doval also spoke about India’s rising economic stature and military might on the world stage and also made a prophecy about likely milestones that the country will achieve by 2047, the landmark year when we celebrate 100 years of Independence. He said that the country has the potential to grow at an exponential rate and the GDP may grow by eight times will 2047.
He chronicled the country’s journey from its troubled past to a bright future on the back of solid contributions from a host of national icons and also urged the students to shape themselves as dynamic leaders.
The NSA also underlined the importance of adopting high-value technology like Artificial Intelligence (AI) and sought to draw a comparison with China in developing 5G technology.“The Chinese took 12 years and invested $300 billion to develop 5G. We didn’t have that much time or that much money. But, in just two-and-a-half years, we went to create an indigenous alternative,” he remarked.
Rallying behind the popular sentiment at the conclave, Doval said that the big dreams of tomorrow are very much within our reach; however, it requires the collective effort of countrymen.
He supported the views expressed by one of the learned professors that by 2047, India’s GDP could multiply by as many as eight times and it could reach $32 trillion.“If that happens, our per capita income will grow from $2,500 to $22,000. The country will have about 1.1 billion working population, highly skilled across multi-oriented disciplines. There will be a burgeoning middle class while the country’s demography, civilizational and spiritual strength will add another dimension to its prowess,” he told the gathering.
He added that in contrast to India, China would have a squeezed workforce and may see its workforce reduce to 23 per cent to less than what it has today. The NSA called upon the students to prepare themselves as ‘leaders of tomorrow’ to sustain the multi-pronged challenges of the next era, as they will be the ones who will serve as the ‘X factor’.
He further said that the country’s technological advancements will be at a critical juncture and will need careful calibration to safeguard national security. (With PTI Inputs)
