NEW DELHI: Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) supremo Mohan Bhagwat in his Vijay Dashami speech, the organisation's biggest annual event, said on Sunday that India needed to be militarily better prepared against China.
Bhagwat also called the dragon 'expansionist', while urging the government to forge an alliance against China with its immediate neighbours like Nepal, Sri Lanka and others.
"Indian defence forces, government & the people remained unfazed and responded sharply to China's boisterous efforts to invade our territories, " he said.
However, Bhagwat warned that India needed to be cautious as it gave a befitting reply to China.
He was referring to the Indo-China border tensions between the two countries that also saw violent flare-up earlier in the Galwan Valley.
"It (China) didn't expect this (response). So we don't know how it will react. So what is the way forward? It is alertness and preparedness. We need to be more powerful than China in military preparedness, economic conditions, international relations and relation with neighboring nations, " added Bhagwat.
The RSS supremo however asserted that the message sent by Indian leaders was with a sense of self-respect.
He also mentioned the "indomitable ethical-patience of our citizens", which he added must compel China to reform its attitude.
"But if push comes to shove we will not fall short of alertness, firmness and readiness.
"We intend to be friendly with all. This is our nature. But mistaking our benevolence for weakness and attempts to disintegrate or weaken us by sheer brute force is unacceptable. Our reckless detractors should know this by now, " was Bhagwat's clear message on the occasion of Vijaya Dashami.
These statements coming from the head of RSS, the ideological mentor of the ruling BJP assumes huge significance in the current scenario of Indo-China tension.