Venkaiah Naidu urges overseas Indians to counter false propaganda on Kashmir

INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
ANI | Updated: Sep 05, 2019 21:43 ISTNew Delhi [India], Sept 5 (ANI): Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu on Thursday called upon the Indian
diaspora to effectively counter false propaganda and negative narrative about India, particularly in the wake of scrapping of Article 370 in
Jammu and Kashmir and its reorganisation."Overseas Indians must create awareness in the countries of their stay that the dilution of Article
370 was purely an internal administrative measure and aimed at accelerating the development of Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh," he said.The Vice
President was speaking after releasing a coffee table book titled 'Glorious Diaspora- Pride of India' containing brief profiles of the
recipients of Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Awards from 2003 to 2019.Naidu asserted that measures taken by the government in J-K have nothing to
do with religion and any such false propaganda should be rebutted strongly.Cautioning that some vested interests at times spread a lot of
disinformation about India in the western media by portraying a negative image, Naidu said, "A few isolated incidents are used to spin
fictitious narratives that intolerance, religious and social disharmony is on the rise in India."He underlined, "The Pravasi Bharatiyas must
effectively counter such falsehoods and project the correct image of India, especially on the harmonious co-existence of the people
belonging to all religions and various social groups."Describing the Indian diaspora as ambassadors of India's great culture, heritage and
its intrinsic values of humanism, the Vice President lauded their contributions for the welfare of the nation through their philanthropic
and charitable work.Observing that giving back to the society was a key element of Indian philosophy, Naidu asked the diaspora to contribute
towards India's growth story through greater participation in the areas of education, health, and agriculture.He urged them to become
partners in programmes such as Swachh Bharat, Clean Ganga, Make in India, Digital India, and Skill India and strengthen them.He said that
since the launch of Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Award (PBSA) in 2003, many deserving people of Indian origin from around the world have been
honoured
They include politicians, business leaders, scientists, economists and people from other fields
(ANI)