Navi Mumbai, Oct 8 (PTI) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday asked the Congress to tell the nation who prevented India’s military response after the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks linked to Pakistan, and accused the party of weakening the fight against terrorism when in power.

He accused the Congress-led UPA government (2004-14) of weakening the fight against terror because of which the country has paid a heavy price.

“A Congress leader, who has also been Union home minister, has said that a country prevented India's military retaliation post-26/11 Mumbai terror attacks in 2008. The party should clarify,” Modi said while addressing a gathering after inaugurating the first phase of the Navi Mumbai International Airport, Aqua Line of Mumbai metro and other projects.

The PM emphasised Mumbai has always been the country's financial capital and a vibrant metropolis, making it vulnerable to terror strikes.

"It is because of this feature of the city that terrorists targeted it in 2008. If a top Congress leader, who has been a Union minister, is to be believed, the then UPA government buckled under pressure of a foreign country against attacking Pakistan even though our defence forces were ready and the mood of the nation was to strike (the neighbouring country),'' the PM stated.

He was apparently referring to former Union Home Minister P Chidambaram's remarks he personally favoured military retribution against Pakistan following the attacks but the UPA government decided to go by the foreign ministry's view to resort to diplomatic steps against Islamabad. Chidambaram noted world powers, including the US, wanted India to not start a war with Pakistan.

Ten heavily armed terrorists from Pakistan created a three-day mayhem in Mumbai in November 2008, leaving 166 people, including US nationals, dead and over 300 injured.

Furthering attacking the Congress, Modi said the Grand Old Party's weakness to resolutely fight terror strengthened the hands of terrorists and insisted the nation has the right to know who stopped India from going ahead with a military retaliation after the 26/11 attacks.

''The Congress had weakened the fight against terror and compromised on national security due to which India has had to pay a heavy price and suffer a huge loss of lives,'' he stated.

In contrast, the PM maintained, today's India gives a befitting response to terror attacks and strikes by entering inside the home of enemies.

“For us, nothing is more important than the safety and security of our nation and its citizens,” Modi asserted, referring to Operation Sindoor launched by Indian armed forces against terror hubs in Pakistan in May after the Pahalgam massacre.

Without naming the Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), which was in power in Maharashtra from November 2019 to June 2022, Modi said the Mumbai region has got a second international airport after a long wait and added the earlier regime created hurdles in development because of rampant corruption.

''This (creating hurdles in development) is no less than committing a sin,'' he noted.

''Gati'' (speed) and 'pragati' (development) are hallmarks of a Viksit Bharat (developed India) where people's welfare is top most priority," he said, adding the country is going in that direction in the last 11 years of the BJP-led rule at the Centre.

Be it Vande Bharat trains, expediting the bullet train project, building new highways, expressways tunnels, sea bridges or linking new cities, speed and development can be seen everywhere in the country, Modi said.

The Navi Mumbai International Airport, with its shape of the lotus, provides a glimpse of viksit Bharat, the PM stated.

"The airport is located on the land of Shivaji Maharaj. It is a symbol of culture and prosperity. Farmers and fisherfolk can now get access to global markets because of the airport," Modi said.

The Prime Minister said in 2014, when he assumed office, there were 74 airports in the country, but their number has now gone up to more than 160.

"India has become the third largest domestic aviation market in the world. With new aircraft orders, there is opportunity for more pilots, cabin crew, ground workers, repair maintenance. By the end of this decade, India will be a Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) hub," he declared.

Modi said with the new international airport and the underground metro corridor, the metropolis will become Asia's largest connectivity hub with seamless travel and connectivity due to the 'Mumbai One' app launched on Wednesday.

Due to UDAN (Ude Desh ka Aam Naagrik) Yojana, lakhs of people have taken to the skies for the first time in the past decade, fulfilling their dreams, he said.

The PM congratulated workers and engineers who constructed the 33.5-km-long underground metro (Line-3) by keeping heritage buildings secure.

"It is a living example of how India is progressing," Modi added.

The PM said Short Term Employability Programme (STEP) is important for the youth because they will get training in drones, robotics, EVs, solar energy and green hydrogen technology under the initiative.

He recalled the contributions of local political stalwart and Peasants and Workers Party (PWP) leader late D B Patil, who toiled for welfare of farmers and whose name will be given to the Navi Mumbai International Airport.

''Loknete D B Patil was an inspiration for society," he added. PTI IAS MR VT RSY