India presents a different picture than 10 years ago, says Dhankhar; heaps praise on PM Modi, UP CM
foreign exchange reserves of USD 680 billion, India has come a long a way since the time it had to pledge its gold to tide over a financial crisis, Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar said on Saturday. Dhankhar was speaking during the inauguration programme of Uttar Pradesh Sainik School in Gorakhpur.
«Today's India presents a completely different picture than what was 10 years ago. There was a time when the same country, which was referred to as 'sone ki chidiya', had to pledge its gold in foreign banks. Back then, our foreign exchange was between USD 1 billion and USD 2 billion. Today, it is USD 680 billion. Look at the kind of progress we have made since,» he said.
India's foreign exchange reserves jumped by USD 2.299 billion to a new high of USD 683.987 billion for the week ended on August 30.
The vice-president also showered praise on Prime Minister Narendra Modi for India's turnaround and said Uttar Pradesh under Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath also played a crucial role in it.
«A deserted Srinagar welcomed me when I visited Kashmir in 1990. Now, over the last two to three years, two crore tourists have visited (Kashmir),» Dhankhar said.
This has happened in present-day India. Article 370 was described by the Constitution makers as «temporary» but some people mistook it as «permanent». It was again in the present that Article 370 was scrapped. This is the present-day India, he added.
Dhankhar further said, «If we compromise with nationalism, it will be a betrayal to the nation. Those who are doing this need
