Rajnath Singh
While addressing a security conclave Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said that a time will come when Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) will be removed form Jammu Kashmir when complete peace is attained in the Union Territory on Monday.
Defence Minster said, “We have been able to achieve success in restoring peace and ending insurgency in many states. That’s why in many states, AFSPA has been removed. I hope things will further improve in J&K. A time will come when we will remove AFSPA from J&K. I hope so.”
Discussing about development in border areas he said, “We have learnt many lessons from 1962. That’s why we have stepped up strengthening border infrastructure. Atal tunnel is a testimony to this fact. Many other border projects are on. We are giving priority to border infrastructure development. People living in border areas deserve good infrastructure. People living in border areas are our strategic assets. Massive transformation and development has taken place in the Northeast.”
In counterinsurgency operations, the AFSPA gives the military authority to arrest, right to shoot and kill and to occupy or damage property. The AFSPA Act applies to Jammu and Kashmir, Nagaland, Assam, and Arunachal Pradesh in India. The military minister stated that building border infrastructure is the government’s top priority when discussing growth in border regions.
