Pilot project recently got over, now time for real one: PM Modi

In an apparent reference to India's air strikes on terror camps in Pakistan, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said that a "pilot project", which was a "practice" just got over, and the "real project" was yet to happen.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi. PTI Photo: File

NEW DELHI: In an apparent reference to India's air strikes on terror camps in Pakistan, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said that a "pilot project", which was a "practice" just got over, and the "real project" was yet to happen. "You are the people who spend life in laboratories. You have a tradition of first doing a pilot project. Later it is scaled up. So recently a pilot project was over," Modi said as the audience burst into wild applause. Modi continued, "Now the real one has to be done. Earlier one was a practice. And the real is to actually give a standing ovation to today's award winners. We will give a standing ovation." These remarks of the prime minister were later tweeted by the ruling BJP.

अभी-अभी एक ‘पायलट प्रोजेक्ट’ पूरा हो गया।

अभी रियल करना है, पहले तो प्रैक्टिस थी: प्रधानमंत्री श्री @narendramodi pic.twitter.com/Gn8a1JsBgX — BJP (@BJP4India) February 28, 2019

Modi's remarks came as news broke about Wing Commander Varthaman Abhinandan's release on Friday by Pakistan. Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan during a joint session of the National Assembly said that the IAF pilot will be freed 'as a peace gesture'. The surprise announcement came barely an hour after Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said that Prime Minister Khan is ready to talk to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to de-escalate Indo-Pak tensions. (With inputs from agencies)