Nation pays homage to martyrs of 1962 war

Paying homage to soldiers who fought in the 1962 Indo-China war, Defence Minister A K Antony on Saturday ruled out any possibility of the repeat of the war and said armed forces were confident of protecting the country against any such threat.

This is the first time that the Indian defence establishment has honoured the dead and participants of the 1962 war officially.

"I would like to assure the nation that India of today is not the India of 1962. Over the years, successive governments learning lessons from the past strengthened our capabilities and modernised our armed forces. We are confident armed forces will be able to protect the border in event of any threat," he said on the sidelines of an event to honour the soldiers of the 1962 war on its 50th anniversary.

The defence minister was asked to assess the threat from China and India's preparation to tackle it.

In the war, India suffered defeat at the hands of the Chinese Army, which went to capture large portion of Indian territory.

The defence minister, who along with Minister of State for Defence M M Pallam Raju, Marshal of the Air Force Arjan Singh and the three services chiefs paid homage to the 1962 war heroes and laid wreaths at Amar Jawan Jyoti, said successive governments have learnt lessons from the war and strengthened military capabilities and developed infrastructure.

"We will vigorously continue to strengthen our capabilities," the defence minister said.

Antony also noted that India was holding dialogue with China to find a solution to the long-pending border dispute and has established a mechanism to "immediately settle" any tension on the border.

Asked why it took the government 50 years to honour the soldiers and martyrs of the 1962 war, the defence minister said, "Nothing changed. This is the 50th year and we thought this is the time the whole nation must pay our homage to the officers and jawans who lost their lives to protect our border."