New Delhi, Aug 8 (IANS): In a special broadcast, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address the nation at 8 p.m. on Thursday on All India Radio, after the government altered the special status of Jammu and Kashmir.

He is likely to outline the government's vision on Jammu and Kashmir, and how it plans to bring about development to the now Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir and the Union Territory of Ladakh.

The government has planned to rope in big investors into the state, fast track the Srinagar Metro and involve people in the development process, all of which officials say were earlier being hampered by Article 370 of the Constitution that gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir.

With the separatists and pro-independence sympathisers under lockdown, the NDA government plans to roll out big time development in the two border Union Territories.

Pakistan, which has been insisting on terming Kashmir as a disputed international issue and has expelled the Indian envoy in Islamabad, could find mention in the Prime Minister's speech.

The Prime Minister's speech comes ahead of his August 15 Independence Day speech at the Red Fort, where he spells out his vision for the nation.