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PM reels off statistics to say economic revival is on

Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee on Monday claimed that the Indian economy was looking up and its revival was evident in the industrial sector.

Cement production has gone up by six per cent and housing finance has shown a 50 per cent increase, he said while addressing a public meeting in Bangalore, winding up his four-day visit to Karnataka.

These observations come close on the heels of adverse criticism of the government's performance and failure on various fronts by the opposition and the media.

Interestingly, the economic resolution adopted at the two-day Bharatiya Janata Party national executive had also not spoken of economic revival.

He said production and sales of trucks and commercial vehicles had shown 34 per cent increase and two-wheeler output was also 20 per cent more.

He said many of the automobile units had started layoff but the number of production days were on the increase. Manufacture of many consumer products had started again.

Vajpayee, who dwelt at length on fostering strong ties with Pakistan, said India would not buckle under any threat on the Kashmir issue nor would it prefer third party mediation to resolve the issue. But first the acts of terrorism should be put to an end to avoid "slaughter of the innocents".

He expressed the hope that the new year would usher in an era of peace.

On the country turning a nuclear weapon state following the Pokhran nuclear blasts, the prime minister said the country would not bother whether the other nuclear powers in the world recognised the fact or not.

However, India would continue its efforts to make the world free from nuclear weapons and strive for their destruction.

He said India had acquired the nuclear bomb capability only as a safeguard and would not make first use of it in the event of an aggression.

UNI

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