Peace impossible without power

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi yesterday said that India is always in favour of world peace and considered war as the last option but made it clear that peace is not possible without strength.

"We are against war. We belong to that tradition in which war is never considered the first option. Whether it is the war in Lanka or Kurukshetra, all efforts were made to avert war till the last," Modi told the Indian armed forces while celebrating the Deepavali festival with them in Kargil on the high mountains of the Himalayas near the border with Pakistan.

He said: "India is opposed to war but peace is not possible without strength."

"India has always viewed war as the last resort, but the armed forces have the strength and strategies to give a befitting reply to anyone who casts an evil eye on the nation," Modi said.

The Prime Minister recalled his visit to Kargil in the aftermath of the Kargil conflict with Pakistan in 1999 when the Indian military had "crushed the hood of terror" and said "there has not been a single war with Pakistan when Kargil has not flown the victory flag," he said. "Deepavali symbolized the celebration of the end of terror," he added.

He said India is successfully taking the fight against both external and internal enemies. "You (the armed forces) are standing as a shield on the border while strict action is being taken against the enemies within the country."