Sunday 08 / June / 2025
Muscat: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said that all of India agrees that terrorism must be eliminated, and has called on Indians to support their nation’s armed forces.
Also read: Modi inaugurates hospital and metro in Gujarat
Speaking at a public gathering in the city of Jamnagar in his home state of Gujarat, Modi said, “The entire nation agrees that the menace of terror has to be eliminated. It is natural that we all should believe the armed forces and be proud of the forces. Yet, I don’t understand why some people still want to question the forces.”
Modi was in Gujarat ahead of the 2019 Indian elections, which have been scheduled for April and May this year. During his time in the state, he also addressed a public rally in the city of Ahmedabad, where he referred to himself as a ‘watchman’, while claiming there were others who sought to remove him from office for their own needs.
“The honesty of your watchman is troubling the emotions and the feelings of the middlemen and the businessmen,” Modi said in Ahmedabad, where he launched the Prime Minister’s Shram Yogi Maan Dhan Yojana, a scheme intended to help farmers and low-wage earners. “That’s why they are loudly shouting, ‘remove Modi’, but it is with your blessings that this watchman stands tall, and stands on his principles and his intentions.
“He says, let us together remove Modi, but I say, let us together move poverty and dishonesty from this country,” Modi added. “To remove Modi, they are bent on organising a great meeting, and here, I am trying to make labourers, workers and farmers safe. They are involved in organising strikes on Modi, and here Modi is focused on striking terror.”
Ahead of his trip to Gujarat, Modi addressed a large gathering of his supporters in Amethi, Uttar Pradesh. India has recently signed an agreement with Russia to manufacture the AK-203 rifle in Amethi. The AK-203 is known to be among the latest versions of the famed AK-47 assault rifle, and Modi said this would help the armed forces better combat terrorism.
“One of the world’s latest rifles, the AK-203, that is the newest weapon of the Kalashnikov series, will be made in our Amethi,” said Modi, during his rally. “These rifles will be made from a joint venture between Russia and India. A while ago, our first female defence minister, has read here the message from the Prime Minister of Russia. I am very, very grateful that for the efforts Vladimir Putin put towards this, as he is a close friend of both myself and India. This joint venture took place over a short time because of their efforts, and this is a message of their friendship.
“There are some people who go around the world and say, ‘made in Jaipur’, ‘made in Jaisalmer’, ‘made in Baroda’, but their talk only stays talk,” he added. “But this is Modi we are talking about. With these ‘made in Amethi’ AK-203 rifles, our soldiers will have a very big advantage in the conflicts we will have with the terrorists and separatists. In Amethi’s factories, there will be hundreds of thousands of rifles made, and they will be exported to other countries in the world also. These factories are also bringing new forms of employment to the young people of Amethi, and are opening new roads for the country’s knowledge and security.”
