- By Aalok Sensharma
- Fri, 27 Sep 2019 09:55 PM (IST)
- Source:JND
New York (USA) | Jagran News Desk: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday addressed the 74th Session of United Nations General Assembly in New York and spoke about a variety of issues.
This was PM Modi's maiden speech at the UN General Assembly after assuming office for the second term. He had last addressed the gathering four years ago, with former External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj representing India at the world body in the subsequent years.
The Prime Minister spoke for about 15 minutes and started his speech by saying that this was special opportunity for him to address India at the world stage.
“This opportunity to address UNGA is special because this year world is celebrating 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi,” said PM Modi.
Speaking about his victory in the 2019 Lok Sabha Elections, the Prime Minister said, “The world's largest democracy voted for my government and me. We came back to power with a bigger majority and because of this mandate I am here today.”
PM Modi also spoke about terrorism and said that the ‘world needs to unite’ against it.
“We believe that terrorism is not a challenge for any one country, but for all countries and of mankind as a whole. So for the sake of humanity, all the world has to unite against terror,” he said.
Without naming Pakistan, PM Modi said there needed to be more anger globally about what terrorism was doing to humanity. "We belong to a country that has given the world Buddha (Buddha's message of peace), not 'Yuddh' (war)," said the Prime Minister.
He further spoke about the United Nations Peace-keeping missions and said that India’s contribution to it has been ‘immense’.
“India's contribution towards United Nations Peace-keeping missions has been immense, no other country in the world has sacrificed as much as India has for these peace-keeping missions,” said the Prime Minister.
The Prime Minister also spoke about the government’s decision to ban single use plastic and said that he is delighted India is running a ‘big campaign’ to get rid of single use plastic.
“While I was coming here, I read on the walls of the United Nations "No more single use plastic". I am delighted to inform you that we are running a big campaign in India to free the country of single use plastic,” said PM Modi.
Talking about the cleanliness drive by the government, the Prime Minister said, “When a developing nation successfully carries out the biggest cleanliness drive of the world and provides more than 11 crore toilets to its people just within five years, that system gives a message of inspiration to the entire world,” he said.
Ending his speech, PM Modi said that India's message to the world community is ‘Harmony and peace’.
“India's message to the world community today is the same as Swami Vivekananda's message to the world in Chicago many years ago - 'Harmony and peace,” said PM Modi.
PM Modi's address at the UN comes on the final day of his week-long visit to the US. The leader had a packed agenda of bilaterals amongst other engagements, beginning with the mega "Howdy, Modi!" event in Houston event that witnessed him sharing the stage with US President Donald Trump before a crowd of more than 50,000 Indian-Americans.
PM Modi was also honoured with the Global Goalkeeper Award by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation for his contributions to the cleanliness drive and efforts to improve access to sanitation in India through Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan. He also met the CEOs of top global companies, including Boeing, Shell and Walmart, during the past week.