Aligarh, Sep 14 (UNI) Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Tuesday that BrahMos Missiles will be manufactured in Uttar Pradesh, as he pushed for making India a defence exporter.
While addressing a rally in Uttar Pradesh’s Aligarh, where he laid the foundation stone for a new university, the Prime Minister talked about the defence corridor, and other development projects, lauding the Yogi Adityanath government and accused other parties who have been in government previously of corruption and criminalisation.
"Whether it's a rifle, fighter jets, drone, or warships, there's a mission going on to push Make In India. India is stepping away from the image of being the largest defence importer, and is moving ahead with the pledge to become defence exporters. UP is going to be a major center for it. I am proud to be an MP of UP," the Prime Minister said.
"In the Lucknow node of defence corridor, BrahMos (missile) will also be made," the prime minister said.
Between 2016 and 2020, India was the world's second largest importer of arms, according to a report by Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), accounting for 9.5 percent of the total global arms imports, while it accounted for 0.2 percent of the share of global arms exports in that time period.
The prime minister was speaking after laying the foundation stone for the Raja Mahendra Pratap Singh state university, named after freedom fighter and revolutionary who came from the Jat community. He also reviewed the Aligarh node of the defence corridor.
Modi stressed that the image of Aligarh will change with the new development work. "Today, Uttar Pradesh is becoming an attractive place for every small and big investor of the country and the world. This happens when the right environment is created for development. Yogi Government is working towards development in the state," the Prime Minister said.
The Prime Minister was addressing a mammoth crowd at Lodha village in presence of UP Governor Anandiben Patel and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.
“The people of UP cannot forget the kind of scams that used to happen here, how the governance was handed over to the corrupt. There was a time when the administration here was run by goons and mafia arbitrarily. Today Yogi ji's government is sincerely engaged in the development of UP. Now the extortionists, who ran the ‘mafia raj’ are behind bars," he said.
In the Jat dominated Western Uttar Pradesh, Modi narrated in details about the achievements of the Jat King Mahendra Pratap Singh along with the deeds of former PM Choudhury Charan Singh and late BJP leader Kalyan Singh, who also belonged to the region.
"I am feeling the absence of Kalyan Singh ji. If he was today, he would have been very happy to see this new identity of Aligarh. With Raja Mahendra Pratap Singh State University and Aligarh node of Uttar Pradesh Defence Industrial Corridor, the image of Aligarh will change,” Modi said.
In his around 40 minutes long speech, the prime minsiter also rememberd Sir Chhotu Ram, a Jat leader from pre-partition Punjab, and Suheldev, legendary king from Shravasti, popularly known to have defeated and killed the Ghaznavid general Ghazi Miyan.
He also talked about the sugarcane farmers in the area known as sugar bowl of India. "I am happy to say that new records of procurement as per MSP has been created in UP in the last four years. The difficulties regarding sugarcane procurement are being reduced continuously. In the last 4 years, over Rs.1,40,000 crore have been paid to UP's sugarcane farmers. In the coming year, there will be new opportunities for UP's sugarcane farmers," he said.
He also said a number of steps are being taken for the small farmers.
UNI MB AO SHK1915