Prime Minister of India - Dr. Manmohan Singh

PM renames Leh Airport

Ladies and Gentlemen,

It gives me great pleasure to name the Leh Airport as the Kushok Bakula Airport. In doing so we pay tribute to the memory of the Most Venerable Kushok Bakula Rinpoche, the architect of Modern Ladakh. Lama Kushok Bakula was a great saint, a teacher, a patriot, a beloved leader, a true Buddhist and, above all, a great Indian. It is only appropriate that we name this airport, the link between the High Himalayas and the world below, after this son of Ladakh and this man of God.

Bakula Rinpoche, as he was widely known, was a unique Lama of great talent and exceptional gifts. He was revered for his erudition, his dedication to the education of a new generation of young monks and nuns, his gentle humility and his wisdom and compassion.

As a citizen of our Republic, he was deeply engaged with a number of welfare and minorities' right issues, not just here in Ladakh, but across the country. He championed the cause of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes and Minorities. He was an active participant in the democratic political life of the State of Jammu and Kashmir.

He provided leadership in the creation of a system of modern education in Ladakh. He was also a distinguished diplomat. As a devout Buddhist, he helped the cause of peace and spread the message of the Gautama Buddha and many great Buddhists.

By renaming this airport after this great son of Ladakh we are also committing ourselves to improving the connectivity between Ladakh and the rest of the country. Our Government is committed to the modernization of our infrastructure across the length and breadth of our vast sub-continent.

From the islands of the Bay of Bengal to the Himalayan mountains, we will invest in the modernization of our airports, railways, roads, ports, waterways and telecom infrastructure. This will ensure that the emotional and economic integration of our country is better enabled.

We will also invest in the development of social infrastructure. Better schools, better hospitals and urban facilities. I hope the modernization of Leh airport will bring more tourists, investors, scholars and men of peace and piety to this remote corner of our country. I hope it opens the gateways of prosperity for this region.

I am sure the proud and valiant people of Ladakh will share my sense of joy today in the naming of this airport after a great leader of the Ladakhi people.

Jai Hind