Brussels: Prime Minister Narendra Modi called for effective response from world bodies like United Nations against terrorism. Addressing a huge gathering of Indian diaspora in Brussels on Wednesday night, he said, ‘failure to do so will render the UN irrelevant’.
The Prime Minister also recalled the horrendous terror attack in Brussels last week, and offered condolences to the families of the victims.
He described terrorism as a challenge to humanity and said that the need of the hour is for all humanitarian forces to join hands to fight it.
Below are the top 10 quotes from his speech:
1. Despite the huge threat, the world is not able to deliver a proportionate response to terror – and terms such as ‘good terrorism’ and ‘bad terrorism’ end up strengthening it. India has faced this scourge for forty years, which many described as a mere law and order problem for a long time, until 9/11 happened.
2. India would not bow to terror. I spoke to many world leaders and emphasized the need to delink religion from terror.
3. At the Global Sufi Conference in New Delhi recently, liberal Islamic scholars had denounced terrorism. This approach was essential to stop radicalization. The right atmosphere had to be created to end terror.
4. United Nations had not been able to come up with a structured response to terrorism. UN has not been able to fulfill its responsibility in this regard, and had not come up with a suitable resolution. Institutions which do not evolve appropriate responses to emerging situations, risked irrelevance.
5. The whole world which is passing through an economic crisis, had recognized India as a ray of hope. India has become the fastest growing large economy in the world, and this is not because of good fortune. This has happened despite two successive drought years. This is the result of good intentions and sound policies.
6. I wish to give an account of the work done by my government. We are ending urea shortages through enhanced production, and neem coating. Poor had been provided LPG connections in large numbers. This was largely due to the give-it-up campaign for the well-off to surrender their LPG subsidy, and 90 lakh people had done so.
7. Maximum production of power and coal also happened in 2015. Investment in Railways has been enhanced substantially, because I believe that the Railways can be the spine of the Indian economy. Car production and software exports had also reached maximum numbers in 2015.
8. 21 crore new bank accounts have been opened, as part of the financial inclusion drive. The concept of “Jandhan Aadhar Mobile” (JAM) had helped reduce corruption and leakages in LPG subsidy. Over 18,000 villages had remained unelectrified after nearly seven decades of Independence, and he had promised to have them electrified within 1000 days. Over 7000 such villages had been electrified till now.
9. The whole world was surprised when he had declared a target of 175 GigaWatts of renewable energy, but the country was now on track to achieve it. The commitment to deliver One Rank, One Pension for the Armed Forces had also been fulfilled.
10. The Land Boundary Agreement with Bangladesh was an example of how contentious issues could be resolved peacefully.
