Kathua (Jammu and Kashmir), Dec 13 (IANS): Prime Minister Narendra Modi Saturday said the respect he has been getting worldwide was not because of him, but because of the people of India.

"The world has started recognising the excellence of India not because of Modi, but because of the 1.25 billion strong people of the country. When people shake hands with me, they see 1.25 billion people standing behind me," Modi said at a Bharatiya Janata Party election rally in this border town in Jammu region.

"It is because I have a decisive mandate to run the country. If we did not have a decisive mandate, the world would not have been looking up to us," he said.

Modi asked the people of Jammu and Kashmir to give a decisive mandate to the BJP so that the next state government gets the respect and status that is true of only strong governments.

Eighteen constituencies will vote Sunday in the fourth of the five-phase assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir. The final round of polling will be held Dec 20, while votes will be counted Dec 23.