US Defense Secretary, Lloyd Austin spoke of the ongoing Ukraine war at Normandy, France, on the occasion of the 79th anniversary of D-Day, in remembrance of the lives lost in World War II. The D-Day or the Normandy Landings took place on June 6, 1944, for the liberation of France from Nazi German occupation under Hitler, it was one of the greatest seaborne military invasions in history, which consolidated the initials of Allied victory over the Axis Power.
The US Defense Secretary had visited the American War Cemetery which is very close to Omaha Beach and commented on the Ukraine War drawing parallels to D-Day. He said, similar to the Ukraine crisis, the D-Day at Normandy almost 80 years ago, the desire for a world where people who speak of genocide and tyranny are cast out remains the same.
Austin further stated, if troops from the democracies of the world could take life risks for the sake of freedom then certainly present democracies too can take the risk of their comfort for the sake of freedom. The US Secretary of Defense’s statement comes in the wake of the long continuation of the Ukraine War, as Russia keeps invading Ukraine claiming Ukrainian territories of Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson as parts of Russia in a declaration of annexation on September 30 of 2022.
US Defense Secretary Visits India Boosting Ties
On June 4, the US Secretary of Defense arrived in India on a two-day visit. In India, he met with India’s Defense Minister Rajnath Singh and NSA Ajit Doval and stressed greater ties between the US and India. The Defense Secretary’s visit comes as a precursor to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s upcoming state visit to the US from June 21 to 24.
