Fernandes in Freetown to cheer up Indian troops

So, the peacekeepers had to scramble to get a new set of clothes forthe minister and the generals.

“I had learnt that the soldiers were not getting mail and other things from home. So before coming here yesterday I decided to begin a courier service for the peacekeepers here. For the moment we have decided to make it bi-monthly i.e an aircraft will come once every two months carrying letters and other things that the families of soldiers may want to send,” he added.

The minister added: “I have come here basically to see the conditions our soldiers are living and working in for I am a firm believer in the dictum that seeing is believing.” He gave the example of the condition of the troops on the Siachen glacier. “Had I not been there and seen how the soldiers were living and working, I would not have known what snowmobiles are,” he said.

Fernandes said he would speak to the soldiers and congratulate them for their “wonderful operation”. However, he added “at the same time I am not here to boost their morale. Their morale is already very high. I am here so that the soldiers feel that back home (in India) there are people who care for them,” he said.

Fernandes, who is on a two-day visit to this strife-torn country, will meet the President, Ahmed Tejan Kebbah, and visit troops in the forward location at Daru and the air force at Hasting.

In reply to a question, he said he would also look at the weapons system that troops from other countries were using but insisted it was not the gun but the man behind the gun who mattered and added that Indian troops were the best.