PANJIM: Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar on Sunday lauded the sacrifices made by soldiers and their families including war widows to protect the borders of the nation.
Parrikar, a former Union defence minister, said that Indian soldiers have always displayed “high level of patriotism and sacrifice for the nation.” He also saluted war widows as “they have contributed part of their heart for nation building.”
“We cannot forget their sacrifices to protect our borders. It is great to sacrifice (one’s) life for the country but the spirit should be to kill the enemy and not to get killed,” he commented.
The chief minister was addressing ‘J K Cement Swatch Ability Run’, a programme organised in Panjim on Sunday early morning. The event was hosted by Major D P Singh, a Kargil war veteran and India’s first blade runner.
Parrikar claimed that several issues of the soldiers who get injured and disabled in the line of duty were solved during his tenure as a defence minister.
“We have worked together on number of issues particularly about the soldiers who are disabled, I am happy to say I did quite a bit for them, whatever I could do as a small contribution to our brave soldiers,” he said referring to the joint initiative taken by defence ministry and Major Singh.
“What we did was nothing, many issues were pending for so long,” he added.
Referring to Major Singh, Parrikar said that he (Singh) wanted to serve the country but due to his injury he could not do it.
