Talks with China smooth; India not going to cower: Rajnath Singh

Ahmedabad: India is not going to bow down before China, Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said on Sunday. He added that talks with China are going smoothly and in a good environment, PTI reported.

Singh, who is in Ahmedabad to campaign for BJP candidates contesting the Lok Sabha elections, said India has become a powerful country from a military standpoint and wants to maintain good relations with its neighbours.

"India is no longer a weak India. India has also become a powerful country from a military point of view. We want to maintain good relations with our neighbouring countries," the minister said when asked about Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's accusation against the Narendra Modi government over Chinese aggression.

Talks between India and China are going on smoothly and in a good environment over whatever issues there are, he said.

"I understand that we should wait for the outcome of the talks. But I want to assure the countrymen that India has not bowed down anywhere, nor will it ever bow down," he said.

Singh also expressed confidence that India's defence exports, which crossed the Rs 21,000 crore mark in the financial 2023-24, will increase going forward.

"In 2014, we exported Rs 600 crore defence items, but now the figure has crossed Rs 21,000 crore, and I can say that it is going to increase," he said.

The minister said the Modi government is committed to ensuring that defence items, whether missiles and other weapons, bombs or tanks, should be made in India and by Indians.

"Today, we have achieved defence production worth more than Rs 1 lakh crore," he said.