New Delhi (Sputnik): Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday (June 25) laid the roadmap for development over the next five years while touching upon on a range of issues linked to the building of a New India
and urging all political parties to bury the hatchet.
Delivering his maiden speech in the lower house of parliament as India’s Prime Minister in his second term, Modi also lamented that despite two centuries experience in arms and ammunition production, India still imports a sizeable share of its defence equipment.
“We have almost 200-225 years of experience in the manufacture of arms and ammunition. At the time of Independence, we had 18 arms manufacturing units. Around that time, China had none for the manufacture of arms and ammunition – it had no experience, nor any factories. Today, China exports defence equipment, whereas we are the biggest importer in the world. We have to turn the country around,” Modi told the lawmakers.
It is customary for the Parliament to move a Motion of Thanks on the occasion of a President’s address to a joint sitting of both houses – Lower House and Upper House and with the Prime Minister speaking at the end of the debate.
Taking a jibe at the earlier government headed by the Indian National Congress, Modi said the main opposition has lost its connection with the masses. He slammed the Congress for crushing democracy in India by imposing a state of emergency on this day -- 25 June in 1975.
Narendra Modi first swept to power in 2014 for the first time at the Centre, promising economic growth and prosperity and an end to prevailing corruption. But the past five years have witnessed some controversial decisions by his government.
On the other hand, several decisions by his government changed the lives of large sections of the population, who were deprived of the benefits of federal government social security schemes.
