DRASS : Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Friday that Pakistan has not learnt any lessons from history and has faced defeat whenever it carried out any misadventure. Paying tributes to soldiers here on Kargil Vijay Diwas, he said the sacrifices made by the soldiers are immortal.

Pakistan, he said, is trying to remain relevant through terror and proxy war but it has faced defeat whenever it has carried out any misadventure.”Today, I am speaking from a place where masters of terror can hear my voice directly. I want to tell patrons of terrorism that their nefarious designs will never succeed,” he said.

“Our bravehearts will crush terrorism and the enemy will be given a befitting response,” he asserted. The prime minister’s remarks come in the backdrop of a surge in terror incidents in the Jammu region.

 Modi said, “In Kargil, we not only won the war, we gave a wonderful example of truth, restraint and strength”. On July 26, 1999, the Indian Army announced the successful culmination of “Operation Vijay”, declaring victory after a nearly three-month-long battle on the icy heights of Kargil in Ladakh.

The day is observed as ‘Kargil Vijay Diwas’ to commemorate India’s victory over Pakistan in the war.The prime minister also said that India will defeat every obstacle in the development of Ladakh, and Jammu and Kashmir.

In his address on Kargil Vijay Diwas here to mark the 25th anniversary of victory in the Kargil war, prime minister Narendra Modi said some people were playing politics over a sensitive issue related to national security and rubbished claims that the Agnipath scheme was launched to save pension money.

“Agnipath aims to make the forces young. This scheme will keep the armies continuously fit for war. Unfortunately, such a sensitive issue related to national security has been made a subject of politics by some people. Some people are playing politics of lies for their personal interests,” he said.

The prime minister said the Angipath scheme is an example of necessary reforms done by the army.

“For decades, there have been discussions in Parliament and various committees on making the armed forces younger. The average age of Indian soldiers being higher than the global average has been a matter of concern,” he added.

He further said that this issue was raised in many committees for years but the will to resolve this national security challenge was not shown earlier.The country has addressed this concern through the Agnipath scheme.

Hitting out at the opposition, Modi said, “These are the same people who weakened our forces by committing scams worth thousands of crores in the forces.  He said that these people did not want the Indian Air Force to get modern fighter jets and they had “made preparations to lock the Tejas fighter plane in a box.

The prime minister also rubbished the claims that the Agnipath scheme was launched to save pension money. “Some people are also spreading the misconception that the government has come up with this scheme to save pension money. I want to ask such people, the question of pension for today’s recruits will arise after 30 years.Why would the government take a decision today,” he asked.