Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav has said that the work on Kushinagar Airport, which has been declared an international airport by the Union Cabinet, was started during his government's tenure in the state.
"Congratulations to those who started the work of Kushinagar airport, which is approved by the Cabinet as an International Airport and which was started during the SP government," Yadav tweeted (translated from Hindi).
"Meerut, Moradabad, Chitrakoot, Azamgarh, and other airports the work for which was started by the SP government should be given approval at the earliest," he added.
The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, had on Wednesday approved for the declaration of Kushinagar airport in Uttar Pradesh as an International airport.
Kushinagar Airport is located in the vicinity of several Buddhist cultural sites like Sravasti, Kapilvastu, Lumbini (Kushinagar itself is a Buddhist cultural site) and declaration as an "International Airport" will offer improved connectivity, a wider choice of competitive costs to the air-travellers.
The decision will result in the boosting of domestic/international tourism and the economic development of the regions.
According to the Ministry of Civil Aviation, it will be an important strategic location with the international border close by. Kushinagar is located in the north-eastern part of Uttar Pradesh about 50 km east of Gorakhpur and is one of the important Buddhist pilgrimage sites.
( With inputs from ANI )