Indian community in Bangkok applaud Modi’s Kashmir strategy of scrapping Article 370

BANGKOK: The Modi connect with the Indian community sparkled anew in Bangkok, with nearly 5000-strong Indian community cheering the India growth story and applauding his pathbreaking move to abolish special status for Jammu and Kashmir.

“You are aware that India has decided to eliminate a big reason behind sowing of seeds of terrorism and separatism,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi told thousands of Indians at the National Indoor Stadium in the Thai capital on November 2.

“When decision is right, its reverberations are heard across the globe. And I can hear it in Thailand as well,” he said amid wild cheering and applause from the audience who greeted his Kashmir remarks with a standing ovation. Mr Modi told the cheering crowd that this ovation was for India’s Parliament and parliamentarians.

On August 5, Article 370, of the Indian Constitution, which bestowed special status for Jammu and Kashmir, was scrapped, evoking concerns in India and across the world that the rights of Kashmiris were endangered by this move. The Modi government has launched a multi-pronged diplomatic outreach to allay the concerns of the world about the fraught situation in Kashmir. The union territories of Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh, have been carved out of the state of Jammu and Kashmir, in accordance with the government’s August 5 decision.

India Growth Story

Addressing the Indian diaspora at the ‘Sawasdee PM Modi’ show, PM Modi underlined that his government was working to fulfil those aims that seemed impossible till a few years ago. “People give more work to those who work and deliver. Expectations of people are more from those who work and deliver,” he said to thunderous applause from the audience.

Showcasing the India growth story under his watch, Mr Modi, who was re-elected in May 2019 with a spectacular mandate, said that his government was committed and working hard to make India USD 5 trillion economy.

“India’s achievements in the past five years have raised confidence and statute of the Indian community abroad. Today when India speaks, the world listens to it carefully and attentively,” said the Indian leader.

Act East

PM Modi also underlined his commitment to accelerating India’s Act India policy and deepening multi-faceted ties with ASEAN.

“Act East is one of our top foreign policy priorities. India and Thailand are very close to each other, emotionally and culturally,” he said.

This is Mr Modi’s first official visit to Thailand, one of the original founders of ASEAN.

(Manish Chand is Founder & Editor-in-Chief of India Writes Network and India and the World magazine. He is in Bangkok to report on and analyse Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Thailand and the ASEAN summit.)

Author Profile

Manish Chand

Manish Chand is Founder-CEO and Editor-in-Chief of India Writes Network (www.indiawrites.org) and India and World, a pioneering magazine focused on international affairs. He is CEO/Director of TGII Media Private Limited, an India-based media, publishing, research and consultancy company.