Agencies, New Delhi | Updated: Oct 02, 2016 15:04 IST

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Sunday that India has never coveted any territory or attacked another country though it made sacrifices for the freedom of others.

“...It is neither hungry for land. But in the two World Wars (in which India had no direct stake), 1.5 lakh Indian soldiers had laid down their lives,” Modi said after inaugurating the Pravasi Bharatiya Kendra, a state-of-the-art complex dedicated to Indians abroad.

“In the last two years, you have seen how the government rescued people from conflict situations, not just Indians but foreigners too,” Modi said, apparently referring to his government’s rescue missions in trouble-torn West Asia.

Read | Incursions impossible, Pak military insists after India’s surgical strikes

PM: India has never coveted territory, never attacked another country yet thousands of Indians gave their lives in the 1st world war pic.twitter.com/g1pzn7DTr2

— Vikas Swarup (@MEAIndia) October 2, 2016

The Prime Minister’s remarks came against the backdrop of deteriorating India-Pakistan ties and an escalating border tension in the wake of the September 18 attack that killed 19 Indian soldiers in northern Kashmir’s Uri.

Days after the attack, the army said it carried out surgical strikes across the Line of Control, India’s de-facto border with Pakistan, and targeted seven terrorist bases in an operation that inflicted “significant casualties”.

He lamented that despite the great price, the country could not make the world realise the importance of its sacrifice. He said whenever he was abroad, he made it a point to visit the memorials for the Indian soldiers.

The Prime Minister said the Indian community can contribute to the cause.

He said Indians settled abroad do not indulge in politics and neither do they believe in grabbing power there. Indians, Modi noted, lived abroad with the principle of “social well being.”

“They are like water. They change their colour and shape as per need,” he said.

Read | ‘Drama exposed’: Pakistan media questions India’s surgical strikes across LoC

More:

http://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/india-has-never-attacked-another-country-says-modi-amid-tension-with-pakistan/story-8YwTFeyR4EPt7S0PIB62fK.html

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