Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said the next 25 years of this century is the most important period for India and "we have to make it a prosperous and developed country" and achieve the goal while drawing inspiration from Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel.

Modi paid floral tribute to Sardar Patel at the Statue of Unity at Kevadia in Gujarat's Narmada district on the occasion of the birth anniversary of India's first home minister and addressed a gathering here.

Born in Gujarat in 1875, Patel was a lawyer and emerged as a leading Congress leader and associate of Mahatma Gandhi during the independence struggle. As the first home minister of the independent India, he is credited with uniting hundreds of princely states into the Union with his mix of persuasion and firmness.

"There came a period of 25 years preceding the country's independence during the last century when every Indian exhausted himself to achieve independence. Now we are faced with a similar 'Amrit Kaal' of the next 25 years for a prosperous India as an opportunity. We have to achieve every goal while drawing inspiration from Sardar Patel," Modi said.

He also referred to the abrogation of Article 370, which accorded special status to the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir.

"Who would have thought that Kashmir will be rid of Article 370? But today, the wall of Article 370 between Kashmir and the country has fallen. Sardar Saheb would be feeling the happiest and blessing us from wherever he is today," the PM said.

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