No religion preaches terrorism, need to delink the two, says Narendra Modi

Brussels: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday addressed the Indian diaspora in Brussels and raised the issue of terrorism, just a few days after the country was hit by the terror strikes.

"So many nations have suffered due to terrorism. Terrorism is not a challenge to a nation, it's a challenge to humanity," said Modi while paying tributes to the victims of Brussels attacks.

Mentioning that India has been troubled by the menace of terrorism for years, Modi stressed that, "There is no question of kneeling before terrorism. The rest of the world recognised the danger only after 9/11 attacks. The entire world must unite to combat it."

Modi added, "I have always said we need to delink terrorism and religion. No religion preaches terrorism. Once the definition of terrorism comes in black and white, people will be deterred from following that path."

Highlighting the issue of economic crisis in the world, Modi said, "Today the entire world is also going through economic problems. But everyone agrees that India is the light of hope.

"Investments in India are higher than ever before. The ease of doing business has also improved," added Modi.

Taking a dig at former liquor baron Vijay Mallya said, "There are some who take money from bank and run away, and there are others who deposit their money in banks."

Modi also presented his government's report card to the Indian community and said, "Our decision to have 5 per cent ethanol in petrol led to record production of ethanol in 2015 leading to better income for farmers."

Modi added that 90 lakh people gave up their LPG cylinder subsidy under Give It Up campaign and said another crore people yet to get gas connection in the next three years.

Modi arrived in Brussels on Wednesday for a hectic day-long visit during which he attended the India-EU Summit and held bilateral talks with his Belgian counterpart Charles Michel.

Modi's visit comes a few days after the March 22 terror attack in which at least 32 people were killed, including an Indian, Raghavendran Ganeshan, who was an Infosys employee from Bengaluru.