No limit we cannot cross to defend sovereignty: Rajnath Singh

NEW DELHI: Amid growing indications of a wider conflagration, defence minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday warned Pakistan that India will not flinch from taking any step to defend itself."There is no limit that we cannot cross to defend our national sovereignty," Singh said while addressing the National Quality Conclave."India has always been a responsible nation. We have always believed in dialogue for solutions.But that does not mean that we will allow anyone to take unfair advantage of our tolerance and patience and, if anyone dares do that, we will give the same kind of quality response as yesterday," Singh said, his stark remarks coming on a day when India, responding to Pakistan's failed attempt to hit military installations, successfully breached the hostile neighbour's air defence.The defence minister, who had earlier in the day told an all-party meeting Operation Sindoor was ongoing, said the way the armed forces successfully carried out strikes on nine terror camps while ensuring that there were no collateral civilian casualties was unimaginable. "I congratulate our armed forces. We are proud of the way they demolished terror camps in Punjab and POK," Singh said, emphasising that the success would not have been possible without quality weapons.He also lauded PM Narendra Modi for his focus on empowering the defence sector. "He was guided by the philosophy of defence sovereignty which means that a country's defence preparedness can never be adequate unless it becomes self-reliant in meeting its defence needs," he said."If we continue to source our weapons and defence equipment from others, then it will mean that we have outsourced our security to others. This can never be good in the long run. Our govt paid attention to it and took the decisive step for developing self-reliance," Singh said as he also appreciated the growing involvement of private entrepreneurs in the defence sector.