India's internal and external security priority of Modi government: Nitin Gadkari

Union minister Nitin Gadkari on Saturday said India's internal and external security is a priority for the BJP-led central government, asserting that the Modi government has done in six years what the Congress could not do in 55 years of its rule.

He said there has been a rapid change in the country's infrastructure and the borders are secure with state-of-the-art technology. He said road construction projects were started in full swing near Nepal and China borders from Pithoragarh in Uttarakhand to reach Mansarovar and the projects will be completed in next six months.

"We do not want to occupy any country and land. We do not want to enter any country. We have brotherly relationship with Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh and in every situation we stand by them," he said.

"We don't want to attack anyone but if anyone casts an evil eye (tirchi nazar) on us that eye will be gouged out," Gadkari told BJP workers from Rajasthan during an online address in Hindi.

The union road, transport and highways minister said Article 370 of the Constitution, which gave a special status to Jammu and Kashmir, was a temporary provision and those who framed it expected it would be removed soon.

"But this was not possible during the rule of Congress," he claimed, adding it was Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah who removed Article 370.

He said internal and external security of the country is "our priority", highlighting that incidents terrorism are almost nil and Maoism and Naxalism are on the verge of elimination. "We have been saying from day one that nationalism is our goal," he said.

"We want this nation to become happy, prosperous and powerful. We have worked with this idea to make India free from fear, hunger, terror and corruption. So, today, all our borders are safe," Gadkari told BJP workers from Rajasthan via an online address.

"If you look at the history of 55 years of the Congress rule and the six years of the Modi government, it will become clear that the work that could not be done in 55 years of the Congress rule was done in the six-year tenure of the Modi government," he said.

Gadkari said terrorists were trained by Pakistan and sent to attack in India.

"Recall the history of the last 25 years, how many bomb blasts, attacks on temples, killings of innocents happened? But the Congress governments bent down on knees before the terrorists," he said.

He said the Modi government has reinforced the process of development in Jammu and Kashmir by curbing terrorism. His ministry alone, he said, is constructing roads, tunnels and highways worth Rs 60,000 crore in the union territory.

On the development of vaccines for the coronavirus, Gadkari said scientists from all over the world are trying to make them and soon a vaccine will be available in India.

Until that vaccine is developed, the minister said, people have to learn to fight the virus and live with it.

"The coronavirus crisis is deep, but it is not the first crisis for our country. Our history tells us our country has faced many crises and emerged victorious," he said, adding people such as Maharana Pratap have inspired us with their struggle against the Mughals.

"Our ancestors have sacrificed their lives for the country's culture, identity and freedom," he said.

He said people have courageously faced the fight with Pakistan and China, even earthquakes and other natural disasters.