Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday lauded India’s gradual shift from being a major importer of defence products to becoming an important exporter.

"Today not only India, but the world is watching how equipment ranging from modern grenades, rifles, fighter planes, drones and warships, are manufactured in the country itself," he said while addressing a gathering after visiting an exhibition on the Aligarh node of the Defence Industrial Corridor. He adding that Uttar Pradesh is going to be a key centre in India's changing identity.

In an attack at the previous government, he said, whatever India needed for defence was imported even after 75 years of independence.

Speaking about the Aligarh defence corridor, Modi said new industrial units of small arms, armament, drone, aerospace, metal components, anti-drone system and defence packaging products will soon come up in the district, which will give it a new identity.

Also Read: PM Modi, President Biden, over 100 world leaders to address UNGA in-person next week

Referring to the local lock-making industry in the district, he said, "The locks of Aligarh used to safeguard the homes and shops. In the 21st century, my Aligarh will work to safeguard the borders of India.”

Modi added that the UP Defence Corridor is coming up with big investment and employment opportunities and that the state is becoming an attractive destination for investors around the world.

Moreover, just months ahead of the 2022 assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, Modi praised Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and asserted that under his leadership, the state was benefiting from the "double-engine" government, as the BJP was ruling both at the Centre and in the state.

Also Read: Behind BJP move to change CMs, do damage control before damage — A Jharkhand lesson

The Prime Minister also hit out at the former governments saying the state was run by gangsters and mafias before 2017, however, things have changed and such elements are now behind the bars.

--With PTI inputs

(Edited by : Kanishka Sarkar)