Will fight terrorism in Kashmir with full force, break its backbone: PM

Srinagar (Jammu and Kashmir) [India], Feb 3 (ANI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday asserted that the "backbone" of terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir would be broken with full force and efforts would be made to make the state prosperous and peaceful.
The Prime Minister also sent out a message to Pakistan, saying the surgical strike of September 2016 demonstrated the "new policy" of India to deal with the menace of cross-border terrorism.
Addressing an event here, he invoked former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and said steps would be taken to realise the "dreams" of the late leader, apparently referring to "Kashmiriyat", "jamhuriyat" (democracy) and "insaniyat" (humanity).
He expressed resolve to resettle the displaced Kashmiri Pandits in the valley and said 700 flats would be built at four places in Kashmir as transit accommodation for those wanting to return.
"We want to see Kashmir prosperous and peaceful again and inviting people from all over the country to visit the beautiful place," he said.
"We will fight terrorism in Kashmir with full force and its backbone will be broken," he added.
During an interactive session at Sher-i-Kashmir International Conference Centre with children from across the country, Prime Minister Modi showered praise on late Lance Naik Nazir Ahmad Wani, who was recently honoured with the country's highest peace time medal the Ashok Chakra, and martyred soldier Aurangzeb.
“I pay my tribute to martyr Nazir Ahmad Wani and all other brave soldiers who sacrificed themselves to protect the nation and maintain peace. Nazir Ahmad Wani was awarded Ashok Chakra,” Prime Minister Modi said.
He further pointed that due to the efforts made in Startup India, the country has “today become the third largest start-up nation after US and China. In the last three-four years, more than 15,000 startups have been recognised.”
The Prime Minister also urged people to promote tourism.
“Tourism is the fastest growing economic sector in the world. If we will ourselves not promote our Indian heritage, then how can we expect tourists to visit India? Earlier around 70 lakh tourists used to visit India every year, this time (in 2018), we witnessed one crore tourists. Earlier we used to get 12 billion dollars from these tourists, which have now jumped to 27 billion dollars,” he said.
Prime Minister Modi said India has full potential to eradicate poverty.
“If the whole country decides to fight poverty, then no force can stop us from eliminating poverty. According to many institutions including the UN, India is number one in the world among the countries which are fast moving out of poverty,” he said.
Prime Minister Modi further hailed Jammu and Kashmir for becoming open defecation free before the scheduled time in September last year.
“The state is now working towards providing drinking water through taps to each household,” he said.
“Those Kashmiri Pandits, who had to leave their homes, their lands, and their ancestors, should be brought back and due respect. The state administration has started providing transit accommodation facilities in Vesu and Sheikhpora,” he added.(ANI)