LUCKNOW: Asserting the perception that India was a weak country has changed in the past over nine years, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday credited Prime Minister Narendra Modi for this and said the nation is now considered as “strong and powerful”.
Addressing the ‘Viksit Bharat Sankalp Yatra’ in his parliamentary constituency, the defence minister said the perception regarding India has changed across the world now.
“Now no one considers India as weak. We are now seen as a strong and powerful country. The credit for this goes to Prime Minister Narendra Modi,” said Singh.
“When the country and countrymen are strong, no power in the world can dare to show eyes to us,” he added.
Singh said it is happening for the first time in the history of India post independence that any government is reaching the door of people to ensure that they avail the benefits of various welfare schemes.
“Our prime minister is worried and concerned if anyone eligible is not getting benefited by the schemes. He used to ask us to ensure that schemes should reach the beneficiaries in our constituencies,” he added.
Singh said that India’s economy was at the 10th position in the world when Modi became the prime minister, adding it is now at the fifth place.
“The economists feel this is the charisma of Modi. If all goes like this, the Indian economy will be among the top three economies in the world by 2027 and on the top by 2047,” he added. Rajnath Singh on Tuesday participated in a cleanliness drive at the Hanuman Setu temple here.
Singh, who is the MP from Lucknow, paid obeisance at the temple and also swept its floor with a broom.
Singh had also addressed a gathering at ‘Shaurya Sandhya’, a military and combat display event held in Lucknow on Monday on the occasion of Army Day. The defence minister said patriotism, courage and humanity are inherent in Indian soldiers. Referring to the humanity among Indian soldiers, he said that when 90,000 Pakistani soldiers surrendered in the 1971 war, “we never mistreated them”.
Singh said patriotism, courage, humanity and loyalty towards the Indian Constitution are the four most important qualities of a soldier.