PremiumNew Delhi: The decision to abrogate provisions of Article 370, which granted special status to Jammu and Kashmir, was taken by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to reintegrate India in keeping with the vision of “One India", Union home minister Amit Shah said on Tuesday.
“Today this is a decisive and determined and non-corrupt government. Whether it was the decision of an air strike or surgical strike, there are a lot of decisions that have to be considered such as what if there is war and what if something goes wrong. We decided that we would never compromise with the security of this country," Shah said at an event organized by the All India Management Association.
“These strikes changed the way the world looked at us. Earlier, they thought our defence and internal security plans barely existed but then they became an integral part of our policy making. Our very detractors told us that nobody could breach our borders and today if even a single soldier sheds his blood it is very important for us," he said.
Till 17 September, not one bullet had been fired in Kashmir and peace prevailed in the valley, despite the teething problems in big policy decisions, said the home minister.
India is progressing very quickly economically, especially with regard to infrastructure, agriculture, rural electrification, and per capital income, he said. “We are progressing towards becoming a $5 trillion economy and we will be so before 2024. We are confident of that," Shah said.
“New India" is Modi’s brainchild, Shah said. “In five years there have been several changes. In 2014, India had been independent for about seven decades. When we came to power, we studied several democracies across the world and we adopted the best one with the aim of a multi-party democratic system meant to further national progress," Shah said.
In 2013, when the United Progressive Alliance government was in power, there were cases of “corruption everyday worth ₹12 lakh crore ( ₹12 trillion), there was no security, our soldiers were taking the hit, internal security was in shambles and people were protesting everyday. The country had a government where every person considered himself the Prime Minister", he said.
