Haldwani, Jun 2 (PTI) Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami on Thursday described the eight years of Narendra Modi's Prime Ministership as a period of big achievements for India during which it emerged as a strong country and its prestige grew globally.

Addressing a press conference in Haldwani, Dhami said Modi's popularity has transcended national boundaries and he has emerged as one of the most popular world leaders. He attributed Modi's growing popularity all over the world partly to the manner in which he handled the COVID-19 crisis and the aggressiveness with which he dealt with the cross-border terrorism. "Under his leadership, India did not just develop two anti-COVID vaccines of its own but also administered them for free to the entire eligible population and to many countries that were in need of them," Dhami said. The surgical strikes and Balakot air strikes proved the rise of a new, more assertive India under the leadership of Modi, he said.

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He said all the schemes of the government of India under Modi have been initiated with the goal of improving the lot of the man on the street and empowering the weaker sections. He cited the Garib Kalyan Yojana, Jan Dhan yojana, Ujjwala yojana, Swanidhi yojana, Kisan Samman Nidhi yojana, and the Mudra yojana as examples of such schemes. Dhami credited Modi with introducing a new work culture in government offices all over the country saying it is leading to major changes. “Before 2014 an atmosphere of despair prevailed across the country which was replaced with a sense of robust optimism with the arrival of Narendra Modi,” he said. He also credited Modi with instilling a sense of being one with the rest of the nation among people in the north eastern states. He said the resolution of the long pending issue of Ram temple in Ayodhya and the abrogation of the Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir bore testimony to the dynamic leadership of Modi.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)