When decision is right, its echo is heard across globe: PM Modi on Article 370

The Prime Minister, while addressing the Indian community in Bangkok, said the government is now working towards achieving those goals which were considered impossible.

Narendra Modi, Modi in Bangkok, Modi Bangkok, Modi Kashmir, Modi on Kashmir, Modi Article 370 Kashmir, indian express news

Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Bangkok. (Twitter/PIB)

In his second address to the Indian community overseas since the government’s decision to scrap special status of Jammu and Kashmir, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday referred to the move and said that when a decision is “right”, it “reverberates” far and wide.

The Prime Minister, while addressing the Indian community in Bangkok, said the government is now working towards achieving those goals which were considered impossible. “You all know that one of the reasons which sowed the seeds of terrorism and separatism has been removed recently”, he said while referring to the government’s decision to scrap the special status under Article 370.

“People thought it cannot happen,” he said, addressing the gathering at an indoor stadium. He is in Thailand’s capital to attend ASEAN, East Asia summits, and this was his first public engagement in the country, hours after he landed.

In his trademark fashion, he asked the cheering audience, “Pata hai kya hai (Do you know what it is?) Kya kiya. Thailand main pata hai. Jab nirnay sahi hota hai, toh goonj sab jaga sunai deti hai. (When the decision is right, its echo is heard across the globe. And I can hear it in Thailand as well).”

Among chants of “Modi, Modi” from the audience, and some of its members standing up to cheer him, he said, “Your standing ovation is for the Indian MPs. Your love, your support will give strength to the Indian MPs.” This prompted others in the stadium to get up and give a standing ovation.

The event, titled Sawasdee PM Modi, was the second such event after Howdy Modi in Houston, US, in September. Modi had referred to the government’s move on Kashmir and got the 50,000-strong audience in Houston to also give a standing ovation to the parliamentarians there. The Howdy Modi event was attended by US President Donald Trump and a group of US Congressmen.

On Saturday, the event was attended by External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal and senior officials from the Indian government.

Shubhajit Roy

Shubhajit Roy, Diplomatic Editor at The Indian Express, has been a journalist for more than 25 years now. Roy joined The Indian Express in October 2003 and has been reporting on foreign affairs for more than 17 years now. Based in Delhi, he has also led the National government and political bureau at The Indian Express in Delhi — a team of reporters who cover the national government and politics for the newspaper. He has got the Ramnath Goenka Journalism award for Excellence in Journalism ‘2016. He got this award for his coverage of the Holey Bakery attack in Dhaka and its aftermath. He also got the IIMCAA Award for the Journalist of the Year, 2022, (Jury’s special mention) for his coverage of the fall of Kabul in August 2021 — he was one of the few Indian journalists in Kabul and the only mainstream newspaper to have covered the Taliban’s capture of power in mid-August, 2021. ... Read More

Stay updated with the latest - Click here to follow us on Instagram