Prime Minister Narendra Modi, addressing a public rally in Gujarat’s Junagadh, revealed his government’s groundbreaking achievement of discovering over 1300 islands across oceans near India through satellite technology. He expressed his vision to harness the tourism potential of these newly found islands to boost India’s tourism sector.”
Referring to the controversy surrounding Katchatheevu island, he said during Congress rule, the Union government had no idea about the exact number of islands India had.
“I then got a satellite survey done and found that we have 1,300 islands. Some of them are as big as Singapore. We will develop some of them for tourism purposes,” said PM Modi.
A Congress leader had recently spoken about separating south India and forming a new nation, while those in the opposition INDI alliance also made statements on similar lines, he said.
“Congress leaders have inherited this mentality of partition. It was the Congress which accepted the country’s partition for the sake of power,” he said.
The Congress had gifted Katchatheevu island to Sri Lanka nearly 30 years ago as it was their personal property, he said.
“If Sardar Patel was not present, Junagadh would have gone to Pakistan. The Congress will create a dangerous situation for the country if it comes to power. They may give away the Kutch desert claiming no one lives there,” he said.
The Congress just does not care and had given away several uninhabited islands, the PM pointed out, adding “if given a free hand” that party will “sell off the Himalayan peaks”.
The Prime Minister said that the ongoing Lok Sabha elections were not for satisfying his personal ambitions, but for fulfilling his “mission.”
A strong and stable government was important not only for the country but also for the world, he said.
“These elections are not for my ambition, as people have fulfilled that ambition in 2014. The 2024 elections are for Modi’s mission,” the PM said. Accusing the opposition Congress of having a “dangerous mentality”, Modi said its manifesto is written in the language of Muslim League.
Inputs from PTI
