New Delhi: Vice President Venkaiah Naidu urged the Indian diaspora to counter the “false propaganda and negative narrative” being spread against India after it scrapped the special status to Jammu and Kashmir.
Naidu said overseas Indians must raise awareness in the countries of their stay that the dilution of Article 370 was purely an internal administrative measure and aimed at accelerating the development of Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh.
"It has nothing to do with religion and any such false propaganda should be rebutted," the vice president said, according to a statement issued by his office.
Naidu's words come in the wake of increased agitation across the world over India's abrogation of special status to Jammu and Kashmir. In a recent incident, thousands of protesters led by British Pakistani groups descended upon the Indian High Commission.
Cautioning that some "vested interests" at times spread disinformation about India in the western media by portraying a negative image, Naidu said, "a few isolated incidents are used to spin fictitious narratives that intolerance, religious and social disharmony is on the rise in India".
Calling the Indian diaspora as “ambassadors” of the country's great culture, heritage and its intrinsic values of humanism, the vice-president stressed on the need to project the correct image of India, especially on the harmonious co-existence of people belonging to all religions and various social groups.
Naidu also urged them to become partners in programmes such as Swachh Bharat, Clean Ganga, Make in India, Digital India, and Skill India and strengthen those.
(With inputs from PTI)
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