Defense Minister Rajnath Singh on Saturday asserted that India has sufficient stocks of petrol, diesel and cooking gas to deal with any crisis amid ongoing tensions in West Asia, and urged people not to pay attention to rumors about shortages.
Singh arrived in Lucknow, his Lok Sabha constituency, on a three-day visit to Uttar Pradesh on Saturday.
Speaking at an event in Gomti Nagar, Singh said: “Right now, the crisis in West Asia has created many challenges. Although formal talks on a ceasefire are underway, given the facts on the ground, it would not be appropriate to assume that the crisis is completely over.”
“When tensions escalated in West Asia, the Prime Minister of India formed a committee headed by me. Its mission is to strengthen the government’s efforts to deal with the negative effects of the West Asian crisis,” Singh said.
He ruled out any kind of energy crisis in the country due to the war, and said: “We have gasoline, diesel and cooking gas – all of them are available and we have sufficient reserves. The government is constantly working to ensure that no crisis arises even after two or three months.”
He said: “No country is immune from what is happening in West Asia. Even America is not immune to that; there are serious crises arising in America as well. Despite all the challenges, India has accepted those challenges and we have largely succeeded in overcoming them. For a short period, there may be a slight shortage of something, and I cannot deny this fact. But I believe that this is a global crisis.”
He asked everyone to “not pay attention” to any rumours. “I assure you that no major crisis will arise in this country while our government is here. When a huge crisis like Covid came, we faced it. So we are fully prepared to face whatever is going on in West Asia,” he said.
He added, “The World Bank said that India is capable of dealing with any energy crisis.”
Highlighting the country’s economic resilience, Singh said: “The world is going through a global crisis, but even in this period, India is the fastest growing economy. This is a matter of pride for us.”
“At one time Uttar Pradesh was a mafia hub, but today it has become a hub for fortune tellers. Uttar Pradesh was once called a ‘Bimaru’ state, but now wherever you go, people say it has largely become a ‘Uttam Pradesh’ (forward state),” Singh said, praising Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.
Singh also said that production of BrahMos missiles has begun in Lucknow and the first batch has been handed over to the armed forces. He added that several auxiliary units related to defense equipment are expected to be established with the support of the state government.
