Union Minister Krishan Pal Gurjar on Friday credited Prime Minister Narendra Modi and voters with the scrapping of Jammu Kashmir's special status Under Article 370 of the Constitution, saying earlier nobody thought that the Valley's problem could have be resolved "so easily".
"A big problem has been resolved recently. There was will power behind it. Nobody had imagined that the problem of Kashmir could be resolved so easily. It wasn't the strength of Modi or us (government) alone, it was the strength of all votes," the minister said.
Gurjar, who holds the charge of the Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment, was addressing students at the concluding session of a two-day Asian parliamentary debate, "Verbum Bellum", at Amity University in Noida.
He told the students that the country was witnessing a "change in system", which was essential for a "change in the country".
"You must have witnessed a change in government several times, but for the first time you are watching a change in the system. Because if the country has to change, then there is a need for a change in the system," Gurjar said.
He said under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership, India had an "enhanced reputation" in the world.
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"It is the power of the youth which is the major contributor to the kind of respect India is getting now globally," he added.
The minister also claimed that the country had witnessed a major change in the past five years and grew stronger.
"There has been a major change in the country in the past five years and India has got strong. PM Modi says his strength has increased because it is after 30 years that a single party has come to power on its own," he said.
The minister also recalled anecdotes about the participation of the youth in political movements and exhorted the students to contribute their bit to the betterment of society.
The state of Jammu and Kashmir was recently divided into union territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.