Modi terms Jammu & Kashmir as the crown of India

New Delhi, January 28, 2020

Terming Jammu & Kashmir as the crown of India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today said it was the nation's responsibility to "pull it out of its decades’ old turmoil.”

Addressing the NCC Rally here, Modi said Young India was not willing to procrastinate issues. It was willing to combat separatism and terrorism.

“The problem of Jammu & Kashmir was persisting ever since the country attained its independence. What has been done for solving the problem?

"About three to four families and political parties were not interested in finding a solution of the problem but also in keeping the issue unsolved,” he said.

“The result of this was that Kashmir got destroyed by continued terrorism in which thousands of innocents were killed. The Government was made to stand as a mute spectator as lakhs of people were evicted from their homes in the state,” he added.

Referring to Article 370, he said it was meant to be a temporary arrangement but that continued for seven decades owing to the vote- bank politics of some political parties.

The Prime Minister also said that abrogation of Article 370 was aimed at solving the long-standing problem in Jammu and Kashmir.

“Our neighbour fought three wars with us, but our forces defeated it in all the wars. Now it is fighting a proxy war with us and thousands of our citizens are being killed.

“But what was the thinking on this issue before. It was being looked at as a law and order problem," he said.

The issue was kept lingering on and the security forces were never given a chance to act. “Today India is progressing with youthful thinking and mindset and hence it is able to launch a surgical strike, air strike and directly attack the terror camps,” he added.

As a result of these actions, there is all-round peace in the country and terrorism has reduced considerably, he said.

Following the wishes of young India, today a National War Memorial and National Police Memorial was built in Delhi. Some in the country did not want a memorial for the martyrs. “Instead of boosting the morale of the security forces, there was an effort to hurt the pride of the forces,” he added.

About the appointment of the Chief of Defence Staff, he said, all over the world, the armed forces were undergoing a transformation. There is a greater emphasis on the coordination of the Army, Navy and the Airforce.

There was a demand for a Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) for many decades but unfortunately, indecisiveness prevailed. “The creation of the post of CDS and appointing the new CDS have been done by our Government," he said.

On the issue of modernisation and technical upgradation of armed forces, he said that anyone who loves the country would want his nation’s security forces to be modern and upgraded. But he lamented that even after 30 years the Indian Airforce could not acquire a single next-generation fighter plane.

“Our aircraft were old and accident-prone, martyring our fighter pilots. We could complete that task which was pending for over three decades. Today, I am happy that after three decades of waiting, the Indian Air Force could get the next-generation fighter plane – Rafale," he added.

NNN