Gujarat emerging as India's LNG hub: Modi
Anjar (Gujarat), Sep 30 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said that Gujarat was emerging as the country's LNG hub, a reason for the people of the state to feel proud.
He was speaking at an event organised to inaugurate the Mundra LNG (liquefied natural gas) terminal, the Anjar-Mundra pipeline project, and the Palanpur-Pali-Barmer pipeline project.
"The LNG terminal is the highlight of today's programme. I am fortunate to have inaugurated three LNG terminals. When Gujarat got its first LNG terminal, people were surprised. Now, the state is poised to make its fourth LNG terminal.
"Gujarat is emerging as an LNG hub of India. This should make every Gujarati proud," he said.
Stressing that a strong energy sector was needed for growth, the Prime Minister said: "We cannot alleviate poverty if we are energy poor.
"The aspirations of the people are rising. They want i-ways, gas grids, water grids and optical fibre networks in addition to conventional infrastructure."
He further said that there were ample opportunities in the tourism sector and the world was keen to come to India.
"We have seen in Kutch too, how the White Rann has become the cynosure of all eyes from across the world," he said, adding that his government was taking steps to make the aviation sector more affordable and to improve connectivity.
"Efforts have been made to ensure that all villages are electrified. Work is on to electrify every single household in India. We want to bring qualitative changes in the lives of the common citizen of India," he said.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
NATO, others turn down US call for help in Hormuz: Trump
Washington (PTI): President Donald Trump on Tuesday said NATO and most of US' other allies have rejected his calls to help secure the Strait of Hormuz as the war with Iran entered the third week.
In a social media post, Trump asserted that Iran’s military has been “decimated” and he no longer felt the need for assistance from NATO countries or anyone else.
Last week, Trump had sought help from European nations and others who depend on oil supplies transiting from the Hormuz Strait to safeguard the critical waterway.
“The United States has been informed by most of our NATO “Allies” that they don’t want to get involved with our Military Operation against the Terrorist Regime of Iran, in the Middle East, this, despite the fact that almost every Country strongly agreed with what we are doing, and that Iran cannot, in any way, shape, or form, be allowed to have a Nuclear Weapon,” the US President said in a post on Truth Social.
Iran's attacks on Gulf nations and its grip on the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world's oil is transported, have sparked increasing concerns of a global energy crisis and are unnerving the world economy.
“I am not surprised by their action, however, because I always considered NATO, where we spend Hundreds of Billions of Dollars per year protecting these same Countries, to be a one-way street — We will protect them, but they will do nothing for us, in particular, in a time of need,” Trump said.
He said Australia, Japan and South Korea too have turned down his call for help.
“Fortunately, we have decimated Iran’s Military – Their Navy is gone, their Air Force is gone, their Anti-Aircraft and Radar is gone and perhaps, most importantly, their Leaders, at virtually every level, are gone, never to threaten us, our Middle Eastern Allies, or the World, again,” Trump said.
He said that given the scale of recent military successes, the US no longer "need" or desires assistance from NATO countries, adding that it never relied on such support in the first place.
Speaking as President of the United States, the "most powerful" country in the world, "we do not need" help from anyone, Trump said.
The West Asia conflict began on February 28 when the US-Israeli combine conducted airstrikes on Iran.
The Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway that connects the Persian Gulf to the open ocean, has effectively been shut following the US and Israel attack on Iran and Tehran's sweeping retaliation.
However, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi had said that from Tehran's "perspective", the strait is "open". "It is only closed to Iran's enemies, to those who carried out unjust aggression against our country and to their allies.”
Earlier in the day, a second Indian-flagged LPG tanker, Nanda Devi, reached the country after safely sailing from the war-hit Strait of Hormuz. On Monday, the first ship, Shivalik, reached Mundra port in Gujarat.
As of now, 22 Indian vessels remain on the west side and two on the east side of the strait.
Indian authorities are in constant touch with all the relevant stakeholders in the region to secure the safe passage of the remaining ships, officials said.
