The abrogation of Article 370 is an epoch-making decision by Prime Minister Narendra Modi which has paved the way for peace and development in Jammu and Kashmir, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said on Saturday.

Shah had arrived here on Friday on a two-day official visit to the State to inaugurate a slew of development and infrastructure projects.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had taken the historic decision to abrogate Article 370 on 5 August, 2019. Modiji has made it possible to connect Jammu and Kashmir with India for all time to come, Shah said.

Kashmir has come to the mainstream. As a result, peace has returned to Kashmir. It has ushered in development in the region, said Shah while inaugurating and laying the foundation stone for various development projects here.

I have conveyed best wishes to the Prime Minister for the historic decision on behalf of the people of Jammu and Kashmir, he further said.

Shah on Saturday inaugurated the much awaited four-laning of Kamakhyanagar-Duburi section of National Highway-53 on EPC (Procurement and Construction) mode here in the presence of Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik.

Describing the national highways as the “fate-line” of the nation, Shah said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has always stressed on infrastructure development projects as they change the fate of a region.

“Like Odisha, people of Gujarat also worship Lord Jagannath. On August 5, 2019, Modi had taken the historic decision to scrap Article 370. On this occasion, I thank the PM on behalf of the people of the country,” Shah said.

“Once the entire region was affected by left wing extremism and during the past nine years, the Narendra Modi Government with the help of State governments successfully managed to control naxalism,” he said.

“There has been a 30 pc drop in LWE violences and 32 pc in encounters between security forces and naxal cadres from 2015 to 2019. There was also a 56 pc drop in the number of security personnel losing their lives,” said the HM.

The development of the nation is closely linked to National Highways. That is why the Union Government has given maximum importance to construction of NHs.

Currently, about 29 km of NHs is being constructed every day, Shah said, adding that the Union Government has given grants to the tune of 18 lakh crore to Odisha in various sectors in the last 9 years.

Lauding the Odisha Government, Shah said “Odisha has achieved almost zero-casualty in disaster management.

Odisha’s model of disaster management has played a key role in national disaster management, he added, the union home minister added.

Speaking on the occasion, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik said “the New Odisha is a unique transformation story setting benchmarks across various sectors.”

The Odisha Government believes that connectivity is key to progress of the state and empowerment of our people, Patnaik said.

Citing an example of Gurupriya bridge connecting the erstwhile Naxal hotbed Swabhiman anchal in Malkangiri, he said that the construction of this bridge has played a catalytic role in the development of the entire area.

Stating that Odisha always believes in cooperative federalism, Patnaik appreciated the central government for its support to the State in its development agenda.