India is way far ahead of China in leading the world with ideas: Rajnath Singh

Lauding the “exemplary courage” shown by the country’s armed forces amid the stand-off with China, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Monday said that there can be a debate on the issue of military might between the two countries but as far as soft power is concerned India is “far ahead” of China, in leading the world with ideas.

“In these testing times, our forces have shown exemplary courage and remarkable fortitude. They fought the PLA with the utmost bravery and forced them to go back. The coming generations of this nation will be proud of what our forces have managed to achieve this year,” said Rajnath Singh while addressing the ‘Valedictory Session’ of FICCI’s Annual Conclave.

There can be a serious debate on who owns more military might but when it comes to soft power there is no scope of ambiguity. India is far ahead of China when it comes to leading the world with ideas,” he said.

Citing the history of Indian civilisation, Defence Minister said, “If you look at entire East Asia from Burma to Thailand to Indonesia and Malaysia even Japan, there is a huge Indian cultural impact on all these countries. Buddhism had a monumental influence over China to an extent that before the 1949 revolution almost 80 per cent of China’s population followed Buddhism.”