Defence Minister Rajnath Singh pays rich tribute to 1971 war martyrs at the felicitation ceremony in Guwahati 

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh attended an award ceremony today at Srimanta Sankardev Kalakshetra in Guwahati. The Assam government has organised the award ceremony to honour the sacrifices of soldiers who took part in the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War.

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, his cabinet colleagues, and senior government officials was also present in the programme.

While attending the felicitation ceremony at Srimanta Sankardev Kalakshetra Rajnath Singh remembers the war heroes of 1971 and pays his rich tribute to the martyrs. Chief Minister of Assam Dr. Himanta Biswa Sarma received the  Raksha Mantri on his visit to Assam at No. 1 State Guest House, Koinadhora in Guwahati, today. 

The Defence Minister also inaugurated an exhibition by the Directorate of Sainik Welfare at Kalakshetra. The exhibition is to showcase the valour & supreme sacrifice of the  armed forces in the 1971 war. 

While speaking at the event the Raksha Mantri stated, “Even our Tri services want Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) to be removed from Jammu and Kashmir soon.” 

Singh stated that it’s no small thing that for the last 3-4 years, the work of removing AFSPA is being done in the northeastern states.

“Recently AFSPA was completely removed from 23 dist of Assam,” he said adding, AFSPA was removed from 15 police stations in Manipur and Nagaland. That in itself means a lot. He also  asserted that India would not hesitate to act against terrorists who target the country from across the border.

Singh said the government was working to wipe out terrorism from the country. "India has been successful in giving out the message that terrorism will be strongly dealt with. We will not hesitate to cross borders if the country is targeted from outside," he maintained.

Singh also said that the eastern boundary of the country is currently experiencing more peace and stability compared to the western frontier, with Bangladesh being a friendly neighbour.

"The tension that India experiences on western frontier does not exist along eastern boundary as Bangladesh is a friendly country," he noted.

"The problem of infiltration has almost ended. There is peace and stability at the border (in the eastern frontier) now," the minister added.