Expressing gratitude to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his role in the development of Buddhist sites, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said that the prime minister had realised the vision of Buddhist circuit and the newly inaugurated airport would bring about positive changes to the lives of five crore people of the region.

Yogi was speaking at a function where the prime minister inaugurated an international airport in Kushinagar on Wednesday.

The chief minister said that from 1947 to 2014 only two airports were functional in Uttar Pradesh, including Lucknow and Varanasi, while the connectivity of the state was confined to around 16 cities.

“But today, Kushinagar airport has become operational as the 9th airport of the state whereas there is direct air service from the airports of Uttar Pradesh to 75 major cities,” he said.

“Kushinagar, being the place of Mahaparinirvana of Lord Buddha, is a centre of deep faith and reverence for Buddhists all over the world. Humanity will remain indebted to Tathagata for the messages of friendship and compassion that he gave to the world,” he said.

Yogi quoted a line from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s speech at the United Nations Organisation (UNO) in which he said, “Countries of the world have given war while India has given Buddha.”

With regard to the UDAN scheme, Yogi said: “The prime minister’s purpose behind the scheme was to ensure that even those wearing ‘hawai chappals’ (slippers) could travel by plane. This has been made possible through improved air connectivity. Work is underway on 11 new airports in the state and work is going on war footing on Jewar International Airport as well as the airport at Ayodhya.”

The chief minister stressed, “The Kushinagar International Airport is very important for the people of eastern Uttar Pradesh as well as northwestern Bihar and neighboring Nepal.”

The Kushinagar International Airport has been built at an estimated cost of Rs 260 crore and will facilitate domestic and international pilgrims to visit Mahaparinirvana Sthal of Lord Buddha. The airport will be the nearest gateway connecting Buddhist pilgrimages in UP, Bihar and Nepal and is set to boost investment and employment opportunities in the region. The Union cabinet gave its approval for declaring Kushinagar airport in Uttar Pradesh as an international airport in June 2020.