Need to have national resolve Operation Sindoor to achieve Viksit Bharat goal: PM to CMs at NITI meet

NEW DELHI: The Niti Aayog Governing Council meeting on Saturday, which saw participation of 31 states and UTs, saw “complete unanimity” on Operation Sindoor and there was hardly any sign of political animosity during the day long proceedings. Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged the states and UTs to have the same national resolve and spirit for achieving Viksit Bharat as it was for Operation Sindoor.

“The PM in his remark said that we need to have the same approach that we had in supporting Operation Sindoor to go and achieve the goal of Viksit Bharat. The strength of Team India as shown in Operation Sindoor also is going to be the same feature which will enable India to achieve Viksit Bharat. He also said Operation Sindoor is not just the show of the Army's strength, it has to be converted to social strength. Similarly, Viksit Bharat is not the idea of chief ministers or anybody in the system; it has to be converted to a people’s movement,” Niti Aayog CEO B V R Subrahmanyam told reporters while adding that the meeting was most successful.

This was PM’s first meeting with CMs and Lieutenant Governors after Operation Sindoor. Leaders lauded the military operation for its precision and impact on terrorist infrastructure, as well as the progress in defence industry’s self-reliance under the Aatmanirbhar Bharat initiative. In his address, Modi said the operation must not be viewed as a one-off. “We must adopt a long-term approach,” he said, calling for modernisation of civil preparedness. “Recent mock drills have reignited attention to civil defence. States should institutionalise civil defence preparedness ,” he added.

The meeting saw participation of CMs of both NDA and opposition-ruled states, including M K Stalin (Tamil Nadu), A Revanth Reddy (Telangana), Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu (Himachal Pradesh), Hemant Soren (Jharkhand), Bhagwant Mann (Punjab), and Lalduhoma (Mizoram). Absent from the meeting were CMs of Karnataka, Kerala, West Bengal, Bihar, and Puducherry. Among NDA leaders present were N Chandrababu Naidu (Andhra Pradesh), Conrad Sangma (Meghalaya), and Neiphiu Rio (Nagaland).

Reiterating the Centre-state coordination , Modi said, “If Centre and states work together like Team India, no goal is impossible,” he said. Sources said there was unanimity among states that there should be “no politics over development” and everyone is committed to accelerate growth.

While BJP CMs from Delhi, Odisha and Goa echoed the vision of Viksit Bharat, Telangana CM Revanth Reddy proposed forming a national task force , headed by PM and comprising key chief ministers, to fully harness the economic potential of India’s six major metros — Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru, Kolkata, Chennai, and Hyderabad. Naidu proposed forming three Centre-State sub-groups focused on GDP growth, population management, and artificial intelligence.

Though Stalin, Mann and Soren raised state specific issues, officials said there was sign of any face off. J&K CM Omar Abdullah said that the “darkness” prevailing in the UT after the Pahalgam attack will lift soon and they are confident of the “light” returning again.