The 14-km-long Zojila tunnel is supposed to be India’s longest road tunnel and Asia’s longest bi-directional tunnel.
Two days after the Centre instructed the security forces in Jammu and Kashmir to launch an unilateral ceasefire in the holy month of Ramzan, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday made an appeal to the ‘misguided youngsters’ to shun the violent means and begin to be a part of the national mainstream. On his visit to the conflict-hit state, PM Modi further remarked that every stone picked up by the youth in Kashmir drives the state towards instability.
“My appeal to these misguided youths is to return to the national mainstream, which is their own family, and participate in the development of Jammu and Kashmir,” PM Modi said while dedicating the 330-MW Krishenganga power project to the nation.
The Prime Minister inaugurated the project and also laid the foundation stone for the Srinagar Ring Road at the Sher-e-Kashmir International Convention Centre amidst a cheering crowd that welcomed the Centre’s initiatives for the development in the state. The 42.1-km, four-lane Srinagar Ring Road, will link Galandar in West Srinagar to Sumbal in Bandipora district and aims at reducing traffic congestion.
Making a visible impression on the local audience, PM Modi started his speech in Kashmiri and greeted the audience with wishes for well being and prosperity. In his speech that envisaged a prosperous future for the Kashmiri people, Modi underlined the significance of ‘Kashmiriyat’ and invoked former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. PM Modi said that Vajpayee was an admirer of the beautiful concept of which he is also a ‘follower’.
Tourism is vital to Jammu and Kashmir’s development. We are undertaking efforts towards enhancing tourism facilities across the state so that more and more tourists from across India as well as the world visit the beautiful land of Jammu and Kashmir. pic.twitter.com/s4VFlnmhyL
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) May 19, 2018
Thanking PM Modi for the Centre’s decision to halt all security operations and expressing a goodwill gesture, J&K CM Mehbooba Mufti said that the reciprocation on the ceasefire was expected from Pakistan as well but unfortunately that didn’t happen. Mufti had stated on Friday that continuing ceasefire violations by Pakistan that claimed the lives of four civilians and a BSF jawan was a manifestation that Islamabad has no respect for the holy month.
PM Modi, while speaking about the ceasefire during Ramzan, said that it will assist in exposing the forces “who have been spreading terrorism in the name of Islam”. He emphasised on certain forces who want to keep Jammu and Kashmir from following the path of development.
“But friends, we need to reply to these foreign powers by keeping our march to prosperity going,” he said. “Every stone or weapon picked up by the youth of this state is only meant to destabilise their own state. We have to take the state out of instability for our future generations,” PM Modi was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.
Kashmir will become the ‘rising star of New India’
In almost all his public addresses, PM Modi stood for the case of development for Kashmir. He reiterated that development alone can curb the violence and militancy in the state.
The Prime Minister claimed that the northern state will adorn the ‘New India’ as a rising star and will be a crown on India’s march to development and prosperity.
Earlier in the day, PM Modi unveiled the plaque to commence work for Zojila tunnel to provide all-weather connectivity between Srinagar, Kargil and Leh.
“Jammu and Kashmir is going to get development projects worth Rs. 25,000 crore. These projects will have a positive impact on the people of the state,” Modi said after the inauguration the project.
The 14-km-long Zojila tunnel is supposed to be India’s longest road tunnel and Asia’s longest bi-directional tunnel. The Prime Minister also attended the closing ceremony of the Birth Centenary celebration of the 19th Kushok Bakula Rinpoche in Leh, where he praised Bakula for his developmental works in India. Union Minister Nitin Gadkari was also present at the ceremony.