Narendra Modi's statement about slumped economic growth complete lie: Ghulam Nabi Azad

Discarding the statement of Narendra Modi that economic growth of the country slumped in Congress- led UPA regime, Union health minister Ghulam Nabi Azad on Thursday said even the world bank has cited India as the world's third largest economy.

"Narendra Modi has been speaking a complete lie about Congress as even the world bank in its recent report has cited India as the world's third largest Economy in terms of purchasing power parity (PPP), moving ahead of Japan," he told reporters in Varanasi.

"BJP prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi has been saying that Congress has done nothing and no development took place since last 65 years and economic growth of the country slumped in congress regime, now the report of world bank has unveiled Modi's all white lies," he said.

The recent report of the world bank says that India achieved a higher GDP growth in terms of PPP, Azad said. On a question of Pakistan's "interference" in Jammu and Kashmir issue, Azad said "the voters of Jammu and Kashmir had always opposed the divisive politics of Pakistan".

"Pakistan had failed to deal with its internal affairs, so to divert the attention of their country's people they raised this issue," he said.