Mumbai: Bollywood star Akshay Kumar on Saturday met with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the sidelines of a media summit in the national capital.
Taking to Instagram, the ‘Airlift’ star shared a candid image from his brief meeting with the Prime Minister. In the image, Akshay and PM Modi can be seen exchanging warm pleasantries.
“Got an opportunity to listen to our PM @narendramodi ji give an inspirational talk about new India’s growth story at the HT Leadership Summit,” Akshay captioned the post.
A video posted on the official Instagram handle of HT City also gave a sneak peek into the brief meeting of PM Modi and Akshay Kumar. The video showed PM Modi respectfully yet cutely enquiring about the well being of Akshay. “Kaise ho bhai…,” he asked.
On Saturday morning, PM Modi attended the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit (HTLS), marking 100 years of the publication.
Addressing the audience, PM Modi said that he hopes that this century will belong to India.
“India has traversed a remarkable journey, moving from the struggles of independence to riding waves of aspiration and development. This journey, unique in itself, reflects the indomitable spirit of the nation. Ten years ago, such transformations seemed unimaginable. Today, there is hope that this century will belong to India,” he said.
He also pointed out that to realize this dream, investments must be made across all sectors with the mindset that nothing less than the best is acceptable.
“Processes must be streamlined to ensure India’s standards are recognized as world-class. In education, efforts are underway to establish India as a global leader in quality learning,” he said.
Praising the citizens of the country, the Prime Minister said that they stood in the times when the country needed them the most.
“The strength that has guided India, both before and after independence, is the resilience of the common citizen. When the British left, many doubted India’s future. During the Emergency, people feared democracy was gone forever. While some institutions and individuals surrendered to the regime, the citizens stood firm, and democracy was swiftly restored. Similarly, India’s citizens demonstrated extraordinary resolve in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic,” the PM said.
Calling vote bank politics the one that created inequality and distrust among citizens, PM Modi said today his government’s vision extends beyond it.
“A popular saying once echoed in policymaking circles: ‘Good economics is bad politics.’ This notion allowed previous governments to avoid tough decisions, masking inefficiency under the guise of populism. Vote-bank politics took precedence, creating inequality and distrust among citizens. Today, that trust has been restored. The government’s vision extends beyond vote-bank politics, focusing instead on progress for the people, by the people, and of the people. The goal is clear: to make India a developed nation,” he said.
PM Modi also emphasized that when citizens trust their government, the impact on the country’s development is profound.Now, India’s youth are fostering a vibrant startup ecosystem, with over 1.25 lakh registered startups shaping the economy. Today, nearly 10 crore women entrepreneurs, fondly called “Lakhpati Didis,” are running businesses in villages across the country. When the middle class and underprivileged start taking risks, transformative change becomes visible, as is happening now,” he added.
The Prime Minister highlighted that the government’s approach is to spend big for the people and save big for the people.
“In 2014, the union budget stood at Rs 16 lakh crore; today, it has grown to Rs 48 lakh crore. Capital expenditure, which was around Rs 2.5 lakh crore in 2013-14, now exceeds Rs 11 lakh crore, funding roads, railways, research facilities, and other public infrastructure,” he said.
