'Jo ucchit samjho woh karo' (Do whatever you deem appropriate), this is what Defence Minister Rajnath Singh told the then Army Chief Gen MM Naravane on the night of August 31, 2020 following a tense situation with the Chinese PLA.
In his memoir Four Stars of Destiny, Naravane recounts Singh's direction as well as a flurry of phone calls between the Defence Minister, External Affairs Minister, the National Security Advisor and the Chief of Defence Staff that night on the sensitive situation.
China followed "wolf-warrior diplomacy" with impunity browbeating smaller neighbours and it took the Indian Army to show to the world that "enough is enough" and challenge the "neighbourhood bully", says Gen Manoj Mukund Naravane.
Former India Army chief, General MM Naravane, on Saturday said the responsibility of ensuring national security was vested in every citizen. Addressing a session on National Security Perspectives , organised by India International Centre in the national capital on July 28, the former Army chief, while underlining the security dimensions - both internal and external - said India does not have any "extra-territorial ambitions".