'BRO means brother...': Rajnath Singh's praise for Border Roads Organisation

Defence minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday praised the work of the Border Roads Organisation (BRO), declaring 'they are actually brothers of our armed forces and the people' and joking that he was earlier under the impression the abbreviation 'BRO' meant 'bro', which is American slang to address a male friend. "When I saw the name 'Border Roads Organisation' written in short for the first time, I thought it to be 'bro'... which our new generation uses in the sense of 'brother'. Then I was told it is not 'Bro'... it is 'BRO'.

Singh is on a two-day visit to the northeastern states of Assam and Arunachal Pradesh and was speaking at the inauguration of the Siyom Bridge in the latter state, as well as over 20 other BRO projects in the border states.

In his address, he reiterated the importance of keeping the nation empowered and mentioned the crucial role BRO plays, saying, "In this era of changing priorities and interests of the nations, it's necessary for any nation to keep itself empowered. Our armed forces are always ready to face any kind of situation and BRO is walking along with them."

On recent tensions with China - which includes violence in the Tawang sector of Arunachal Pradesh in early December - the minister, making his first visit to the state since that skirmish, said (without naming any foreign state), "India has always been against war... has neither started a war nor captured an inch of land from any country... but this should not be taken for granted."

The minister also lauded India's philosophy of 'Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam', or "the world is one family".