New Delhi:

Union Minister Piyush Goyal today asked citizens to think positively, and push back against forces that always try to pull down the nation and spread negativity.

At the NDTV Indian of the Year Awards 2024, the Union Minister of Commerce and Industry said the world is seeing the India story unfold, and citizens today stand united as a proud nation.

“The world is seeing the India story unfold. It’s a moment in history that we are privileged to be a part of,” said Mr Goyal, who is the Lok Sabha MP from North Mumbai.

“We have to work towards a better future… We will continue to be the envy of the world, envy of our neighbours,” he said.

“It is important to think positively. Some sections spread negativity, and we must counter them,” he said.

Since 2003, when NDTV launched the first ever Indian of the Year, the event has become synonymous with recognising those Indians – individuals, organisations and institutions – who have contributed to the idea and identity of India in one way or the other, whose contributions to the country have strengthened the foundation of our society.

The awards have recognised the unsung hero in the same breath as the most celebrated – our focus has always been on the extraordinary work. It is to honour extraordinary work that we gather once again to celebrate the Indian of the Year – 2024.

New Delhi:

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar today said India is no longer what it used to be on the issue of defending herself.

At NDTV ‘Indian of the Year Awards 2024’, Mr Jaishankar recalled how the then government did not respond after the 26/11 terror attacks in Mumbai in 2008.

“In the past, India left 26/11 unanswered. We have answered Pakistan with Uri and Balakot strikes,” Mr Jaishankar said.

India had launched a surgical strike using its special forces on terror camps deep inside Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), following an attack by Pakistan-based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) at a military base in Jammu and Kashmir’s Uri that killed 19 Indian soldiers.

The Indian special forces destroyed several terror launch pads in the surgical strike in September 2016.

The airstrike in Pakistan’s Balakot happened in retaliation after a JeM terrorist’s suicide bomb attack on a Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) convoy killed 40 soldiers in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pulwama in February 2019.

The 26/11 attacks were a series of coordinated terrorist strikes by 10 Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists from Pakistan, who targeted key locations in Mumbai, including the Taj Hotel, Oberoi Trident Hotel, Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, Leopold Cafe, Nariman House, Cama Hospital, and Metro Cinema.

Over three days of terror, 166 people including 20 security personnel and 26 foreigners were killed, while more than 300 were injured.

Following the 26/11 attacks, the Defence Ministry has said coastal security has been reviewed at appropriate levels and the Indian Navy has been designated as the authority responsible for overall maritime security, which includes coastal security and offshore security.

The Indian Navy, in this regard, is assisted by the Coast Guard, State Marine Police, and other central and state agencies for coastal defence of the nation.