Welcome Home Wing Commander Abhinandan! The nation is proud of your exemplary courage. Our armed forces are an in… https://t.co/M8gC4mWWFX — Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) 1551458069000

NEW DELHI: The successful return of IAF fighter pilot Abhinandan Varthaman from captivity and surgical strikes against terrorist camps in Pakistan continued to dominate the discourse as PM Narendra Modi said the meaning of “abhinandan” will now change as India has the strength to alter the dictionary meaning of some words.After his remarks on Saturday morning, he later attributed Varthaman’s return to Indian soil to the success of his government’s foreign policy. He did so while attacking previous Congress governments for defence scams and regretting absence of Rafale fighters to counter opposition allegations over the deal. Rafale fighters could have delivered even better results, he said.Modi said the Rafale deal was not finalised by the previous government for “swar-th-niti (vested interests)” and now an effort is on to hamper it for political reasons. The PM said from Jeep to helicopter deals, Congress was involved in corruption leading to huge loss to the defence sector.While referring to the IAF officer’s return, Modi said, “The entire world pays full attention to whatever India does. This country has the strength to change the meaning of words in dictionary. Abhinandan once used to mean congratulations in English, now the meaning of Abhinandan will change.”Modi was speaking at the launch of Global Housing Technology Challenge, which had an audience from India and abroad. This was his first public meeting after the return of the pilot from Pakistan on Friday.Soon after the pilot was released on Friday, Modi had tweeted , “Welcome Home Wing Commander Abhinandan! The nation is proud of your exemplary courage.”.Speaking at an event in Delhi, Modi admitted that he was a rookie to Delhi corridors when he took over as PM in 2014, which, however, proved a boon in disguise as he could start afresh leading to evolution of success stories like a new foreign policy resulting in emergence of a decisive India.“Can you feel the impact of our foreign policy?” Modi asked the gathering hinting at the international support India has got over its tough response in the form of air strikes on Jaish camps inside Pakistan after the Pulwama attack.“Today’s India is a new India where blood of each soldier is highly valued. Earlier soldiers used to die but no big action was taken. We take decisions in the interest of the nation,” the Prime Minister said.Modi, however, regretted that the “unity among Indians” has caused fear among a few. “Some of the fears are good like fear of country’s valour among the enemies, fear of armed forces among terrorists, fear of law among fugitives,” he said.