From terrorism to 'betas-damaads' jibe: Here are the key takeaways from PM's Modi San Jose speech

The Prime Minister dealt with a range of subjects. He spoke on what his government had done since coming to power, he took a jibe at the Congress, spoke about India’s future and terrorism. Here are the highlights of his speech:

21st century will belong to India

The Prime Minister told the audience that when he had come to Delhi 16 months ago he didn’t even know which road he had to take to get to Parliament. But the people had given him a mandate to govern.

“With your blessings, I am doing my best to fulfil it,” he said.

The Prime Minister said that the world was now viewing India with a great deal of hope.

“The 21st century will belong to Asia…But now people are saying that the 21st century is going to belong to India,” he said.

The Prime Minister said the reason for this change was every person in the country deciding to change things around them.

He said the world’s nations were now trying to ally with India. “This atmosphere of faith will take India to new heights,” he said.

No good terrorism, bad terrorism

The Prime Minister said that the two biggest problems that the world is facing presently are terrorism and global warming. And he said he’d written to various world leaders about it.

“This (terrorism) can be successfully addressed with firm commitment and co-operation with the people of the world,” he said.

He also said it was sad that the United Nations has no definition of terrorism yet.

If it has taken the UN 15 years to define terrorism, how long will it take to fight terrorism, he asked.

Ridiculing the concept of good and bad terrorism, Modi said terrorism is terrorism.

“There is no good terrorism and bad terrorism,” he said. “India has been suffering from terrorism for 40 years. All human forces should come together against terrorism. There is need for an unity against terrorism. Only then there can be peace in the world.”

“India is a peace loving country. It is the land of Mahatma Gandhi and Gautam Buddha. It is the land of peace and ahimsa,” he said. the Prime Minister also promised to raise the issue at the United Nations on Monday.

The PM also said that the US didn’t recognise terrorism as a problem in the 1990s when India was dealing with it, preferring to call it a law and order problem at the time. However, that changed after a bombing in the US and state department officials had tried to get more knowledge on terrorism, he said.

PM Modi’s latest acronym for his achievements: JAM

The Prime Minister said that he had been working tirelessly since taking charge and the JAM acronym best described his biggest achievements so far.

Here’s what it stands for:

J - Jan Dhan Bank Account

A - Aadhaar card

M - Mobile governance

The PM spoke about how the nationalisation of banks almost 50 years ago hadn’t helped the poor.

But now 18 crore new accounts have been opened by the poor under the scheme, he said.

“We have heard of the poverty of the rich but I have seen the wealth of the poor,” he said. The Prime Minister said that Rs 32,000 crore was deposited in the banking sector through small deposits under the scheme.

The Prime Minister also spoke about his government’s focus on the Aadhaar scheme and on how mobile governance would be a focus area for the government.

Modi also spoke about how the government had implemented the direct subsidy transfer scheme for LPG and saved crores in government funds. He spoke of neem coating urea to prevent it being diverted from the farming sector, the Beti Bachao Andolan and soil cards for farmers as his government’s major initiatives since coming to power.

The Prime Minister also told his audience that this was only a trailer of things to come.

‘Damaad’, ‘beta’ barbs for the Congress

The Prime Minister’s shown he’s not shy of criticising the Congress when he’s abroad. This time was no different.

The Prime Minister said that unlike earlier when there were allegations of ‘betas’ (sons) and ‘damaads’ (son-in-laws) making a lot of money there were no allegations of corruption against him.

“In our country it doesn’t take much for allegations to come up against politicians… Someone made 50 crores, someone’s son made 250 crores, (someone’s) daughter made 500 crores, (someone’s) damaad (son-in-law) made 1000 crores…” he said.

Are there any allegations of corruption against me? No, shouted the crowd.

“I promise I will live for the country and even die for it,” he said.

You’re not a brain drain but a brain deposit for India, PM Modi tells NRIs

The Prime Minister said that earlier in India there was a debate on the brain drain with many Indians leaving the country for foreign shores.

“But there will be many more brains born in the country,” he said.

“Brain drain can become brain gain… This is actually brain deposit and it would serve its motherland at an appropriate time,” he said.

“Now it is the time that every Indian can show people their strength,” he said in his hour-long speech.

“Your fingers have created magic on the keyboard and the computer and this gave India a new identity. Your skill and commitment is wonderful,” the Prime Minister said.

with inputs from PTI