Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said that space or sea should be areas of universal cooperation, not universal conflict and for the world too, it is not time for conflict but to remove conditions that create conflicts.
Addressing the National Assembly of the Parliament of Guyana, PM Modi said India has never moved forward with the idea of expansionism and has always stayed away from the idea of resource-capturing.
PM Modi is the first Indian Prime Minister to address the National Assembly of Guyana. A special session of the Parliament was convened by Speaker Manzoor Nadir for the address.
In his address, Prime Minister recalled the longstanding historical ties between India and Guyana. He thanked the Guyanese people for the highest honour of the country bestowed on him.
He noted that in spite of the geographical distance between India and Guyana, shared heritage and democracy brought the two nations close together.
Underlining the shared democratic ethos and common human-centric approach of the two countries, he noted that these values helped them to progress on an inclusive path.
“We have never moved forward with the idea of expansionism. We have always stayed away from the idea of resource capturing. I believe whether it is space or sea, this should be the subject of universal cooperation, not universal conflict. For the world also, this is not time for conflict, this is the time to identify the conditions that create conflicts and remove it,” PM Modi said.
Prime Minister noted that India’s mantra of ‘Humanity First’ inspires it to amplify the voice of the Global South, including at the recent G-20 Summit in Brazil. India, he noted, wants to serve humanity as Vishwabandhu, a friend to the world, and this seminal thought has shaped its approach towards the global community where it gives equal importance to all nations-big or small.
“The kind of situation that is there before the world, the best way to move forward is ‘democracy first and humanity first’. The idea of ‘democracy first’ teaches us to take everyone along and move forward with the development of everyone. The idea of ‘Humanity first’ decides the direction of our decisions,” he said.
“When decisions are taken based on the idea of ‘humanity first’, results will be in the interest of humanity…for the formation of an inclusive society, there is no other bigger medium than democracy…both the countries have together shown that democracy is not just a system, we have shown that democracy is in our DNA, vision, conduct and behaviour,” he added.
PM Modi called for giving primacy to women-led development to bring greater global progress and prosperity. He urged for greater exchanges between the two countries in the field of education and innovation so that the potential of the youth could be fully realized.
Conveying India’s steadfast support to the Caribbean region, he thanked President Mohamed Irfaan Ali for hosting the 2nd India-CARICOM Summit.
Underscoring India’s deep commitment to further strengthening India-Guyana historical ties, he stated that Guyana could become the bridge of opportunities between India and the Latin American continent.
PM Modi said that in the last 200-250 years, India and Guyana have witnessed similar kind similar kinds of struggle.
“Today both countries are strengthening democracy in the world. That’s why, in the Guyanese Parliament, I am greeting you all on behalf of 140 crore people of India,” he said.
“The relation of India and Guyana is very deep, it is the relation of soil, sweat, diligence. Around 180 years ago, an Indian came to Guyana land and after that, both in happiness and sadness, India and Guyana’s relation has been filled with intimacy,” he added.
He concluded his address by quoting the great son of Guyana Chhedi Jagan who had said, “we have to learn from the past and improve our present and prepare a strong foundation for the future.” He invited Guyana Parliamentarians to visit India.
PM Modi arrived in Guyana on the third leg of his three-nation visit. It is the first visit to Guyana by an Indian Prime Minister in over 50 years.
During this visit, PM Modi also joined leaders from the Caribbean partner countries for the 2nd India-CARICOM Summit.