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PM Modi addresses public meetings in Srinagar & Katra, Jammu & Kashmir

Published By : Admin | September 19, 2024 | 12:00 IST
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Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed massive gatherings at Srinagar and Katra in Jammu & Kashmir, emphasizing the region's rapid development and progress. "This is the new Jammu and Kashmir," he said, highlighting the large turnout of young people, the elderly, mothers, and sisters. “Our goal is the rapid development of Jammu and Kashmir," he added.

PM Modi congratulated the people of Jammu and Kashmir on the successful first phase of voting in seven districts, which took place without the shadow of terrorism. "This is a matter of happiness and pride for all of us, that so many people came out to vote," he said, citing voting percentages of over 80% in Kishtwar, 71% in Doda, 70% in Ramban, and 62% in Kulgam. “Today, the world is watching how the people of Jammu and Kashmir strengthen India's democracy. For this, I congratulate the people of Jammu and Kashmir,” PM Modi added.

PM Modi criticized the three families that have ruled Jammu and Kashmir, saying they have "crushed both democracy and the cultural essence of Kashmir." He accused them of depriving the people of their rightful entitlements and promoting violence and chaos. However, he noted that the youth of Jammu and Kashmir are now challenging these families and rising against them.

“The three families were responsible for the ruin of Jammu and Kashmir. These people have been rattled from Delhi to Srinagar. These three families think that no one can question them. They believe that grabbing power and looting you is their birthright. These families have always deprived the people of Jammu and Kashmir of their rightful entitlements, and this has been their political agenda. They only gave Jammu and Kashmir violence and chaos. But now, Jammu and Kashmir will no longer be under the grip of these three families. Now, the youth of Jammu and Kashmir are challenging them. The same youth they held back are now rising against them,” said the Prime Minister.

Taking a sharp dig at Congress and PDP, PM Modi said, “They sold hatred for decades to keep their political shops running. The same fires that burned schools in Kashmir were stoked by their market of hatred. They did not build new schools and gave shelter to those who set schools on fire. You remember the time when even the schools that survived the fires couldn't operate for months. Our youth were kept away from education, while these three families rejoiced in handing them stones. For their selfish gains, they ruined the future of our children.”

The Prime Minister highlighted his government's efforts to provide education and employment opportunities to the youth. "In the past five years, around 50,000 children whose education had been interrupted were re-enrolled in school," he said. Additionally, 250 schools are being upgraded to PM Shri Schools, and numerous degree colleges, and engineering and polytechnic colleges have been built.

“These three families have crushed both democracy and the cultural essence of Kashmir. Think about what they did in the 1980s. They treated the politics of Jammu and Kashmir as their fiefdom. They did not want anyone else to rise politically, otherwise, why would they have halted the elections for Panchayats, BDCs, and DDCs? They feared that new leaders would emerge and challenge their family rule,” said PM Modi highlighting Congress, NC and PDP’s misrule in the state.

Underscoring the government’s dedication to the development and progress that Jammu and Kashmir achieved, PM Modi said, “The Kashmir Valley is now connected by rail. This will benefit apple farmers and other fruit and vegetable growers. Your produce will reach major markets across the country at lower costs. Increased connectivity will boost the tourism sector, and new factories, industries, and businesses will be established here.”

PM Modi emphasized the improved security situation in Jammu and Kashmir, citing the successful organization of events like the G-20 summit, sports car racing, and Khelo India Winter Games. He also highlighted the increased connectivity, including the rail link to the Kashmir Valley, which will benefit farmers and boost tourism.

The Prime Minister outlined the BJP's plans for the poor, farmers, youth, and women, including increased financial support and access to free healthcare. He also reiterated the party's commitment to restoring Jammu and Kashmir's statehood. He said, “In Jammu and Kashmir, we are focused only on development and rapid progress. Today, new playgrounds have been built for children. The new Habba Kadal Bridge, the renovated Zero Bridge and Abdullah Bridge, the Wayil Bridge in Ganderbal, the beauty around Dal Lake and Jhelum, electric buses running on the streets of Srinagar, and the bustling Polo View market, all these are signs of the new and improved Jammu and Kashmir.”

During his second address in Katra, Jammu and Kashmir, PM Modi emphasized the need for change, citing the failures of Congress, NC, and PDP in the region over the years. “These elections are about choosing the future of Jammu and Kashmir. They are about building a stronger and newer Jammu and Kashmir,” said PM Modi. He added that the Congress-NC-PDP alliance represents "Three families who have inflicted wounds and caused pain to this region for decades" and called for an end to their political legacy.

Referring to recent remarks made by Congress leaders, the Prime Minister remarked, "Congress has always been willing to gamble with our faith and culture for a few votes." He criticized the Congress’ stance on religious traditions, labelling it a reflection of their "Naxalite ideology" and foreign influences. Also, PM Modi showcased the BJP government’s achievements in the region, highlighting infrastructure projects, including the construction of the Chenab Bridge, which is now an iconic symbol of Jammu’s progress. “You entrusted this task to Modi and the BJP. Today, this magnificent bridge is not only a convenience but also an attraction,” he said, adding that it is now internationally recognized, with people talking about it in the same breath as Paris’ Eiffel Tower.

Highlighting the boost to tourism, PM Modi spoke of the large influx of tourists and pilgrims to the region, including the 95 lakh pilgrims who visited Mata Vaishno Devi last year. He noted, “This has benefited small shopkeepers, fruit vendors, farmers, and auto and taxi drivers alike.” PM Modi also celebrated the recent GI tag given to Udhampur's ‘Kaladi,’ a local cheese, which will increase demand and provide new opportunities for local farmers and weavers. "I am happy that during the BJP government, Udhampur's “Kaladi’ received a GI tag," said the Prime Minister.

PM Modi reiterated his commitment to providing better opportunities for the youth of Jammu and Kashmir, referencing the successes of para-athletes from the region. The Prime Minister reaffirmed the BJP's stance on Article 370, condemning efforts by Congress, NC, and PDP to restore the provision. He emphasized, "We will not let Pakistan’s agenda be implemented in Jammu and Kashmir. No power in the world can bring back Article 370."

In his closing remarks, PM Modi assured voters that the BJP remains committed to making Jammu and Kashmir a state again, a promise made in Parliament. He called on the people to support the BJP on September 25.

Click here to read full text speech of Srinagar

Click here to read full text speech of Katra

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India-Italy Joint Declaration
May 20, 2026

At the invitation of the President of the Council of Ministers of the Italian Republic, Giorgia Meloni, the Prime Minister of India, Shri Narendra Modi, paid an official visit to Italy on 19-20 May 2026. The visit, following Prime Minister Modi’s visit to Italy in June 2024 for the G7 Summit and Prime Minister Meloni’s visit to India for the G20 Summit in 2023, provided renewed momentum to the bilateral ties. The two leaders decided to elevate India-Italy relations to the level of a Special Strategic Partnership.

Political Dialogue

The two Prime Ministers welcomed the strong momentum of high-level exchanges and agreed to hold annual meetings of leaders including on the sidelines of multilateral events, as well as regular Ministerial and institutional-level meetings.

They appreciated the concrete progress achieved across the diverse pillars of the Joint Strategic Action Plan 2025-2029 adopted by the two leaders in their meeting during the G20 Summit held in Rio de Janeiro in November 2024. They agreed to establish Foreign Ministers-led mechanism to review the India-Italy Joint Strategic Action Plan 2025-29 and provide strategic guidance to India-Italy Special Strategic Partnership.

Economic Cooperation and Investments

Both leaders expressed satisfaction at the growing dynamism of bilateral economic and industrial cooperation, with three high level business fora held since the last year. Building on the opportunities arising from India’s rapid and consistent economic growth and the successful conclusion of the negotiations for the EU–India Free Trade Agreement, they reaffirmed the shared objective of expanding bilateral trade in both direction with aim to reach to € 20 billion by 2029.

They welcomed the increase of bilateral investments in key sectors and encouraged the respective industries to forge industrial and technology partnerships in order to build resilient supply chains. They welcomed the prospect of greater investments, particularly in textiles, clean technologies, semiconductors, automotive, energy, tourism, pharmaceuticals and medical technologies, digital technologies, critical raw materials, steel, ports and infrastructure. They encouraged industries to utilize the policy incentives and schemes in place in both countries which seek to enhance business linkages and production facilities.

Both Prime Ministers agreed to encourage dialogue and cooperation among stock exchanges, investment funds, venture capital, banks, insurance companies and financial institutions.

They agreed to facilitate industrial partnerships, including between SMEs, to foster deeper integration of supply chains. They encouraged new sectoral missions in the coming months in priority areas of mutual interest.

The two Prime Ministers welcomed the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding for cooperation in Critical Minerals. They agreed to further strengthen and expand bilateral cooperation in field of critical minerals by establishing a structured framework for collaboration, with particular emphasis on sustainability and resilient supply chains. They underscored the importance of promoting joint efforts in recovery of critical minerals from unconventional sources, including electronic waste and mine tailings, as an integral component of circular economy initiatives. They also expressed satisfaction on signing of the Memorandum of Understanding for cooperation in the field of agriculture and agricultural research between respective ministries and institutions.

Connectivity

The two Prime Ministers reaffirmed their commitment to cooperate on the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC), recognising its transformational potential in reshaping and promoting global trade, connectivity and prosperity. Appreciating the preliminary discussions around the project, they encouraged the first IMEC Ministerial meeting to take concrete steps for advancing this initiative in 2026.

They welcomed the signing of an MoU on maritime transport and ports and directed their respective ministries/departments to establish a joint working group to implement the MoU at the earliest.

Science, Technology, Innovation, Start-ups and Artificial Intelligence

The two Prime Ministers reaffirmed that innovation, science and technology are core drivers of the India-Italy partnership.

They announced the creation of INNOVIT India, an innovation hub located in India aimed at strengthening cooperation between the respective innovation ecosystems, support startup acceleration programs, market access and business matching, joint research, university collaboration, and talent mobility in sectors including fintech, healthcare, semiconductors, logistics and supply chains, agritech, energy, quantum computing, and artificial intelligence. Both leaders welcomed the inaugural Science and Innovation Dialogue between Indian and Italian universities and research centres held in Delhi in April 2025 and look forward to holding its next edition in Italy later this year.

Both leaders underlined the importance of an open, free, secure, stable, accessible and peaceful ICT environment, which is an enabler for innovation and economic growth. PM Modi thanked PM Meloni for Italy’s constructive participation in the AI Impact Summit that took place on 19th February 2026 in New Delhi. Both leaders reaffirmed their commitment to a human-centric, secure, trustworthy and robust Artificial Intelligence. They agreed to collaborate in this domain including in third countries.

The two Prime Ministers placed particular emphasis on opportunities for cooperation in the field of supercomputing.

Building on the 2025–2027 Executive Program for Scientific Cooperation, they supported the implementation of joint projects and the facilitation of mobility of researchers in area of quantum technologies, renewable energy, green hydrogen and sustainable blue economy. They also welcomed the ongoing implementation of the Memorandum of Understanding for cooperation in the field of scientific research and the launching of a joint call for proposals to fund research projects.

The two Prime Ministers acknowledged the longstanding scientific collaboration between the Indian Academia and the International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP) in Trieste and welcomed the signing of a Letter of Intent between the Indian Department of Science and Technology and the Elettra Sincrotrone center in Trieste, Italy in support of activities related to the access of synchrotron radiation facility at Elettra for Indian researchers.

Space

While appreciating the ongoing collaboration between Italian Space Agency and the Indian Space Research Organisation, the two leaders agreed to strengthen the partnership on Earth observation, heliophysics and space exploration, with focused thematic engagement and to explore cooperation on access to space and protection of space infrastructures. They expressed satisfaction with the recent reciprocal visits of their respective space industry delegations and looked forward to further promote commercial collaboration through exchanges of experts and joint initiatives also in third countries.

Defence

Both Prime Ministers expressed satisfaction with the deepening of defence cooperation including through Ministerial exchanges, service-to-service ties, port visits, and welcomed the adoption of a Joint Declaration of Intent and a Defence Industrial Roadmap which will promote partnerships for technological cooperation, co-production and co-development projects, including helicopters, naval platforms, marine armament and electronic warfare. They also recognized the importance of protecting critical infrastructures and their related supply chains through the strengthening of industrial resilience.

The two sides agreed to examine the feasibility of establishing an annual high level military structured dialogue, complementing the work of the Joint Defence Committee and the Military Cooperation Group, and to promote joint exercises and inter-force courses.

Both leaders agreed to launch a Dialogue on Maritime Security, with the aim of increasing maritime security cooperation, coordination, and the exchange of information and best practices in the maritime domain.

Security

The two leaders strongly condemned terrorism and violent extremism in all its forms and manifestations, including cross border terrorism. The two leaders strongly condemned the April 2025 Pahalgam terror attack and reiterated their commitment to cooperate in the fight against terrorists and terrorist groups and their affiliates including those listed in the UN Security Council 1267 Sanctions regime. They called upon all countries to continue to work towards eliminating terrorist safe havens and infrastructure, disrupting terrorist networks and combating the financing of terrorism, consistent with the Financial Action Task Force’s guidelines. Both leaders reiterated their commitment to work together at the UN, FATF and other multilateral platforms.

Both leaders welcomed the first meeting of the Permanent Task Force between India and Italy on countering the financing of terrorism and the upcoming meeting of the Joint Working Group on Counter Terrorism.

Both leaders welcomed the conclusion of an MoU between the Italian Guardia di Finanza and the Directorate of Enforcement of India and looked forward to early conclusion of the Agreement on Exchange and Mutual Protection of Classified Information and the Agreement on strengthening of Police Cooperation. They also welcomed the ongoing discussions on other agreements including Extradition Treaty and Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty.

Migration and Mobility

The two leaders agreed to enhance mobility of students, researchers and skilled workers, particularly in STEM sectors, and to expand cooperation on skills development, in line with the needs of the labour market, including through a specific Joint Declaration of Intent on the facilitation of mobility of nurses from India to Italy. In this context, they welcomed the ongoing discussions between relevant agencies on Social Security Agreement (SSA).

They welcomed the launch of "ICI - Italy Calls India: a University-Enterprise talent bridge” aimed at enhancing the talent of Indian students enrolled in Italian universities by offering concrete pathways for guidance, matching, and qualified integration into Italian enterprises.

They also discussed the possibility of strengthening the cooperation to fight against irregular migration, labour exploitation and human trafficking to ensure safe and legal migration.

Culture and Educational Exchanges

The two leaders highlighted culture as a key pillar of bilateral dialogue and welcomed the signing of an MoU regarding Italy’s participation in the development of the National Maritime Heritage Complex in Lothal. They acknowledged the Indian National Pavilion at the Venice Art Biennale in 2026. They expressed their intention to celebrate 2027 as the "Year of Culture and Tourism between Italy and India”, which will feature a broad calendar of initiatives, and pave the way to a major exhibition on ancient cultural relations between Italy and India to be co-organized by the two Ministries of Culture.

The two leaders encouraged the organization of an Italy–India Cultural Forum, bringing together institutions, experts, and representatives of the creative industries. The two leaders appreciated the launching of the twinning program between Indian and Italian sites inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List, aimed at strengthening cooperation in the protection, enhancement and management of cultural heritage.

The two leaders agreed to further develop the film and audio-visual cooperation between the two Nations, building on the strength and innovative capacities of their industries and on the legal framework provided by the bilateral co-production agreement.

The two Prime Ministers reaffirmed their intention to strengthening cooperation in higher education and welcomed the adoption of the Indo-Italian Roadmap on Higher Education and Research. Prime Minister Modi invited Italian universities and institutions of excellence to open campuses in India under India’s New Education Policy.

India-EU Relations

The Leaders welcomed the new Joint India–EU Comprehensive Strategic Agenda agreed at the India–EU Summit on 27 January 2026 and the conclusion of negotiations of the India–EU Free Trade Agreement which would elevate ties to a new level by enhancing market access, reducing trade barriers, and strengthening economic security and resilience through diversified value chains and new market opportunities.

They also reaffirmed their support for strengthening the India–EU Trade and Technology Council as a key platform for cooperation in trade, critical technologies, and economic security. The leaders welcomed the India–EU Security and Defence Partnership and appreciated progress in mobility cooperation, including the MoU on a Comprehensive Framework for Mobility.

Multilateral Cooperation

Both Leaders stressed the urgent need to reform the United Nations to make it more representative and suited to present-day realities.

Both Leaders emphasized the importance of working together in the United Nations and other global platforms including G20 to protect multilateralism and uphold a rules-based international order.

Recognizing the strategic priority both countries attach to Africa, the two Prime Ministers agreed to work together in trilateral initiatives with African partners in areas such as Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI), agriculture, education, healthcare, artificial intelligence, connectivity and infrastructure and renewable energy in line with India’s development partnership in Africa and Italy’s Mattei Plan.

The Leaders reaffirmed their shared commitment to a free, open, peaceful and prosperous Indo-Pacific, in line with international law, including UNCLOS. They look forward to their continued partnership in Science and Technology and Academic cooperation pillar of Indo-Pacific Ocean Initiatives.

Both leaders expressed deep concern over the situation in the West Asia/the Middle East and its effects in the region as well as the rest of the world. The leaders welcomed the ceasefire announced on 8 April 2026 and underlined the importance of de-escalation, dialogue and diplomacy for a lasting peace in the West Asia/the Middle East. They also called for freedom of navigation and the resumption of global flows through Strait of Hormuz.

Both leaders expressed concern over the ongoing war in Ukraine, which continues to cause immense human suffering and negative global consequences. They agreed to continue to support efforts towards the achievement of a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in Ukraine through dialogue and diplomacy, in accordance with the international law and the principles of the UN Charter.

Conclusion

Noting the impressive growth and deepening of India-Italy Special Strategic Partnership, the two leaders reaffirmed their commitment to further expand cooperation across all sectors and continue close high-level consultations on key global and regional developments.

Prime Minister Modi thanked Prime Minister Meloni for the warm hospitality extended by the Government and the people of the Italian Republic and invited Prime Minister Meloni to visit India at a mutually convenient time.