Prime Minister Modi addresses media on Parliament's opening day, highlighting Operation Sindoor and India's first flag unfurling aboard the ISS.
Parliament is meeting at a period of "great pride", the PM remarked, pointing to the unfurling of the Indian flag for the first time at the ISS and the victory of a military battle against terror bases in Pakistan. India's Parliament started its monsoon session on a clear note of national pride and strategic achievement. This has been termed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi as "Vijay Utsav," a festival of victory in the monsoon session, having said so in context of the successful completion of Operation Sindoor and India's historic entry into the sphere of the International Space Station (ISS).
“The current monsoon session of Parliament is a Vijay Utsav (festival of victory). Both Houses of Parliament Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha will echo this collective pride.”
With the parliamentary session opening, Modi touted Operation Sindoor as one of the decisive military actions by India, signifying concrete advancement in the defense capability of India. This rapid and successful surgery was an immediate response to the Pahalgam terror attack in April, destroying a large constituency of terrorists within a narrow time frame of only 22 minutes. The PM, encasing the high-fanged mission in domestically built military technology, framed the operation as an inspiration example of India's ability to create defence innovations made in India. Parliament officials expect a 16-hour long debate next week in the Lok Sabha on both the military offensive and the previous terror incident. Even though it has asked the Prime Minister to give a statement during the discussions, his overseas trip to the UK and sounding in the Maldives might prevent him from attending.
Parliamentary affairs minister Kiren Rijiju stated that while the administration was willing to debate any subject, it was the job of the opposition to ensure that Parliament ran smoothly. "The entire world has seen India's military strength and capability. During Operation Sindoor, the Indian Armed Forces met all of its goals. "Our forces dismantled terrorist infrastructure by entering their bases in 22 minutes," the Prime Minister stated.
Bringing yet another feather into India's cap, astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla has recently made news by being the first Indian to be a part of the ISS. The unfurling of the national tricolour in space was an event that Modi cited as creating unparalleled pride, which signifies India's rise as a serious player in the area of space exploration.
The PM said the strikes against terror organisations in Pakistan in response to the Pahalgam attack showcased India’s military prowess based on homegrown defence technologies and equipment. The world has “taken note of this new face of Made in India” military power, Modi said, adding “In recent times, when I’ve met leaders across the globe, there’s been increasing attraction towards Indian-made defense equipment.”
Modi praised multi-party delegations that toured foreign cities to convey India's stance on the offensive against Pakistan and terrorism. The "brutal massacre" in Pahalgam shocked the world, he claimed, focusing global attention on terrorists and their masterminds.
In this rare political alignment, multi-party delegations marched into capitals all over the world after the Pahalgam attacks, successfully lobbying most important international stakeholders to condemn state-sponsored terrorism. The Prime Minister lauded such contributions, calling them crucial in creating the favorable environment for international diplomacy and uniting global opinion against terrorism sponsored by Pakistan.
This complements Modi's attestation in the wider security narrative of the government's stance, which he mentioned in terms of diminishing influence from left-wing extremism, backed as evidence by suboptimum instances of success in directly counter-insurgency, including mammoth strikes in Chhattisgarh that decimated a large portion of the principal Maoist leadership. According to him, this indicates a constitutional revival in places less than a few years ago under the dominion of insurgents.
The Prime Minister then shifted gears to public health and social equity, where he cited data recently revealed by the International Labor Organization, saying that more than 900 million Indians would now have access to social security. He also said that the WHO has declared India as trachoma-free. In economics, he cited remarkable strides: India's impending rise to the world's third-largest economy; and the reduction of inflation to the average of close to 2% from double-digit figures.
Modi said that even 2.5 crore people were uplifted out of poverty, a measure which is accepted by many other global institutions as well. He said that these are expected to be further improved by very strong monsoonal rains, which will enhance agricultural productivity as well as overall health in the macro-economy.
The session is set to usher in major important legislative proposals, and Modi called upon all political parties to get involved constructively. He emphasized that divergent ideologies need not hinder the advancement of the nation to urge the legislators to prioritize collective over individual interests.
In his 31-minute statement ahead of Parliament's most recent sitting, Modi also stated that the International Labour Organisation had confirmed that over 900 million Indians have access to social security. The WHO has declared India free of trachoma, a disease that is prevalent during the rainy season, according to the PM.
