Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Address to the UN General Assembly
(Ab0ve): Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), in New York, Sept. 25, 2021. (PIB)
The Indian Prime Minister was recently in New York to represent India at the 76th Session of the United Nations General Assembly. He addressed the UNGA in Hindi.
Modi began with a greeting in Hindi, and acknowledging the new UN President Abdullah Shahid.
“Hearty congratulations to you on taking over the Presidency. It is a matter of great pride for all the developing countries and especially the small Island developing states to have you as the President,” said Modi.
Modi talked about the current COVID 19 pandemic that according to him was the biggest ever pandemic in 100 years. He paid his tributes to all those who lost their lives in the terrible pandemic and expressed his condolences to the families.
“I am representing a country which has the distinction of being named as the ‘Mother of Democracy’. We have had a great tradition of democracy for thousands of years. On this 15th August, India entered its 75th year of independence. Our diversity is the hallmark of our strong democracy.
“A country that has dozens of languages, hundreds of dialects, different lifestyles, cuisines. This is the best example of a ‘Vibrant Democracy.’
“It is the strength of India’s democracy that a small child who once helped his father at a ‘Tea stall’ at a railway station, is addressing UNGA for the fourth time today as the Prime Minister of India.
“As the Chief Minister of Gujarat for the longest time and then as the Prime Minister of India for the last 7 years, I have been serving the countrymen in the role of Head of Government for 20 years,” said the Indian Prime Minister.
Modi acknowledged the birth anniversary of Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyay, the father of ‘Ekatm Manavdarshan.’
“’Ekatm Manavdarshan’ or Integral Humanism is, the co-journey of development and expansion from self to collective.
“Expansion of the self, moving from individual to the society, the nation and entire humanity and this contemplation is dedicated to Antyodaya. Antyodaya is called where no one is left behind, in today’s definition,” explained Modi.
He said India prioritizes moving ahead on the path of integrated, all-inclusive, all-touching, all-pervading, all-alible equitable development.
Polluted water is a big problem not only in India but in the whole world and especially for poor and developing countries. To tackle this challenge in India, it is running a huge campaign to provide piped clean water to more than 170 million households, said Modi.
Big organizations of the world have recognized that for the development of any country, it is very important for its citizens to have property rights of land and house, that is, a record of ownership. In the large countries of the world, there are a large number of people who do not have property rights of land and houses.
India has engaged in providing digital records of their homes and land to millions of people by mapping them with drones in more than 600,000 villages of India.
This digital record is facilitating the people to access to credit – bank loans, while reducing property disputes, pointed Modi.
Today, every sixth person in the world is an Indian. When Indians progress, the development of the world also gets a boost.
Pitching India, Modi said, “Science and technology-based innovations in India can greatly help the world. Both the scale of their tech-solutions and their low cost are unparalleled.
“With our Unified Payment Interface UPI, more than 3.5 billion transactions are taking place every month in India today. India’s vaccine delivery platform, Co-WIN, is providing digital support for millions of vaccine doses in a single day.
“India, which lives on the principle of ‘Sewa Parmo Dharma,’ is dedicated to vaccination development and manufacturing despite limited resources.
“India has developed the world’s first DNA-based vaccine, which can be administered to all people above the age of 12 years.
“Another m-RNA vaccine is in the final stages of its development. Scientists of India are also engaged in the development of a nasal vaccine for Corona. Realizing its responsibility towards humanity, India has once again started distributing the vaccine to the needy people of the world.”
Modi invited vaccine manufacturers from all over the world to come and produce vaccines in India.
Stating the importance of technology, Modi said in the changing world, technology with democratic values, should also be ensured.
The corona pandemic has also taught a lesson to the world that the global economy must be diversified more now. For this, expansion of global value chains is necessary.
“Our Atmanirbhar Bharat (Self-reliant India) campaign is inspired by this spirit. India is becoming a democratic and trustworthy partner of the world for global industrial diversification.
“And in this campaign, India has established a better balance in both economy and ecology. You will definitely be proud to see India’s efforts on climate action as compared to big and developed countries. India is moving very fast towards the target of 450 GW of renewable energy. We are also in the campaign to make India, the world’s largest green Hydrogen hub,” Modi announced.
Modi also pointed out that today’s leaders have to answer to the future generations.
“The danger of regressive thinking and extremism is increasing in the world,” Modi warned.
Under these circumstances, the whole world has to make science-based, rational and progressive thinking the basis of development.
“India is promoting experience-based learning to strengthen the science-based approach. We have opened thousands of Atal Tinkering Labs in schools, built incubators, and developed a strong start-up ecosystem. To commemorate the 75th year of its independence, India is going to launch 75 such satellites into space, which Indian students are developing in schools and colleges,” Modi announced.
“On the other hand, with regressive thinking, countries that are using terrorism as a political tool have to understand that terrorism is an equally big threat to them. It is very important to ensure that the soil of Afghanistan is not used for spreading terrorism and terrorist attacks.
We also have to be careful that no country tries to use the delicate situation there as a tool for its selfishness motives.
At present, the people of Afghanistan, the women and children, the minorities, need help, and we have to discharge our responsibility,” said Modi.
Speaking on Maritime Security, Modi said, “Our oceans are also our common heritage. We have to use the ocean resources, and not abuse them. Our oceans are the lifeline of international trade. We have to safeguard them from the race of expansion and exclusion.
“In order to strengthen the rule-based world order, the international community must speak in unison. The broad consensus reached during India’s Presidency in the Security Council shows the world the way forward as far as Maritime Security is concerned.”
Quoting the great Indian philosopher Acharya Chanakya, Modi said, “When the right work is not done at the right time, time itself destroys the success of that work.”
Modi said, “If the United Nations has to keep itself relevant, it has to improve its effectiveness, increase its reliability.
“A number of questions are being raised on UN today. We have seen this during the Climate and COVID crisis. The ongoing proxy war in many parts of the world, terrorism and the crisis in Afghanistan have deepened these questions. In the context of the Origin of COVID and with regard to Ease of Doing Business Rankings, global governance institutions have damaged their credibility which was built by decades of hard work.
“It is essential that we constantly strengthen the UN for the protection of global order, global laws and global values.”
Modi concluded with the words of Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore, “Move forward fearlessly on your auspicious path of action. May all weaknesses and doubts be eliminated.”
“This message is as relevant to the United Nations in today’s context as it is to every responsible country. I am confident that all of us will strive to enhance peace and harmony in the world, make the world healthy, safe and prosperous,” ended Modi.
NOTE: The original speech was made in Hindi. The above is a close translation of the original and may not be exactly as stated by the Indian Prime Minister.
