Navi Mumbai: Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the Navi Mumbai International Airport on Wednesday and said how even the comman man is today able to travel by air in the country today.
“You will remember, in 2014 when the country gave me the opportunity, I had said that my dream is that even someone wearing slippers can travel by air. To fulfill this dream, it was very necessary to build new airports in the country. Our government started working seriously on this mission. In the past 11 years, airports were built one after the other. In 2014, there were only 74 airports in our country, today the number of airports in India has crossed 160,” he said.
“Due to the UDAN Yojana, lakhs of people have taken to the skies for first time in their lives in the past decade, fulfilling their dreams,” PM Modi adding: “The Navi Mumbai International Airport and underground metro is set to transform travel and connectivity in Mumbai.”
Speaking about his vision of Viksit Bharat PM Modi said, “Today, the entire nation is working towards ‘Viksit Bharat’. A Viksit Bharat is one where there is both momentum and progress, and where public welfare is paramount and government schemes make life easier for citizens.”
He also slammed the Congress over the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks. “Mumbai is not only the economic capital but also one of the most vibrant cities in India. This is the reason terrorists attacked Mumbai. But the then Congress government gave a message of weakness,” he said.
Referring to a remark by former Union home minister P Chidambaram that the then UPA government had decided not to retaliate against Pakistan after the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks due to intense international pressure, Modi said: “Recently, a senior Congress leader and former home minister has revealed that after the 2008 Mumbai attacks, our security forces were ready to attack Pakistan, but due to pressure from another country, the Congress government at the time stopped our security forces.”
“The Congress needs to say who made the decision under pressure from a foreign power. The country has every right to know. The Congress’ weakness strengthened the terrorists. The country repeatedly had to pay for this mistake by sacrificing lives. For us, nothing is more important than national security and the safety of our citizens,” the Prime Minister said.
