In a veiled message to China amid the border standoff, President Ram Nath Kovind on Friday asserted that while India believes in peace it is also capable of giving a befitting response to any attempt of aggression as he said "some in our neighbourhood" tried to carry out "misadventure of expansion".

In his address to the nation on the eve of the 74th Independence Day, Kovind also spoke about the 'Aatmanirbhar' initiative launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and allayed fears of foreign investors saying India's self-reliance means being self-sufficient without alienating or creating distance from the world, with which it would continue to engage.