Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday made a strong pitch for “one state, one global destination” stressing that states must work towards “future-ready” cities and develop at least one tourist destination with all global standards, facilities and infrastructure.

Chairing the 10th Governing Council meeting of Niti Aayog under the theme – ‘Viksit Rajya for Viksit Bharat 2047 – the Prime Minister said if the Union government and states work together like Team India, “no goal is impossible.”

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The Prime Minister’s pitch for the development of world standard tourist destination has significant connotations as it comes in the backdrop of the recent Pahalgam terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir in which 25 tourists and one local person were killed. The incident triggered an exodus of tourists and came as a severe blow to the combined efforts of both the government and private stakeholders in reviving Kashmir’s tourism sector.

He suggested that states should develop at least one tourist destination at par with global standards and by providing all facilities and infrastructure.

“One State, One Global Destination. It would also lead to the development of the neighbouring cities as tourist places,” the Prime Minister further said, emphasizing, “We should work towards future-ready cities.”

Urging state chief ministers to step up the pace of development, Mr Modi said, “We have to increase the speed of development. ”

“India is getting rapidly urbanised. We should work towards future-ready cities… We should have the aim of making each state viksit, each city viksit, each nagar palika viksit and each village viksit. If we work on these lines, we will not have to wait till 2047 to become Viksit Bharat,” he added.

“We should work in a manner so that policies implemented bring change in the lives of common citizens. Only when people feel the change, it strengthens the change and transforms the change into a movement. We have a great opportunity as a team to fulfill the aspirations of 140 crore people,” he added.

The Governing Council is the apex body of Niti Aayog which includes all state chief ministers, lieutenant governors of Union Territories, and several Union ministers and the Prime Minister is the chairman.

Growth, innovation and sustainability should be the engine for the development of India’s cities, he added.

Advocating the need to work towards the inclusion of women in the workforce, the Prime Minister said: “We must make laws and policies so that they can be respectfully integrated into the workforce.”

The 10th Governing Council meeting of Niti Aayog provided a platform for the Centre, states and UTs to deliberate on measures to advance the vision of Viksit Bharat@2047 and build consensus on how states can be the building blocks for making India a developed nation.

Measures for promoting entrepreneurship, enhancing skilling, and creating sustainable employment opportunities across the country were also deliberated in the meeting.