Varanasi, Jan. 13 -- Strong connectivity is essential for building a developed India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Friday while flagging off the world's longest river cruise 'MV Ganga Vilas' which will travel 3,200 km in 51 days to reach Dibrugarh via Bangladesh, sailing across 27 river systems.

Modi via video conferencing also inaugurated a Tent City at Varanasi, developed on the banks of the Ganga opposite the famed ghats of the holy city, to tap the tourism potential of the region.

Besides, he inaugurated and laid the foundation stones for several other inland waterways projects worth more than Rs 1,000 crore in West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and Assam during the event.

In his address, Modi pointed out that the world's l...