Georgetown, November 21 Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed a special session of the Guyana Parliament here on Thursday. He thanked the people of Guyana for this honor and said that there has been a relationship full of warmth and affection between the two countries.
PM Modi said, “Just yesterday, Guyana gave me its highest honor. I heartily thank every citizen of Guyana for this honor. I dedicate this honor to every citizen of India. The relationship between India and Guyana is very deep. It is a relationship of soil, sweat and hard work. About 180 years ago, the first Indian set foot on the land of Guyana. In such a situation, from then till now, in all circumstances, the relationship between India and Guyana has been full of warmth and affection.” PM Modi said that before becoming the Prime Minister, he had visited this beautiful country 24 years ago as a “curious person”. He said that he wanted to know about Guyana’s heritage, wanted to understand its history. He said, “Even today there are many people in Guyana who remember their meetings with me. My visit at that time is full of many memories.”
The Prime Minister, while addressing the Parliament of the Caribbean country, emphasized on the rich democratic tradition. He said, “Today the strongest mantra for moving ahead in front of the world is ‘Democracy First, Humanity First’. The spirit of Democracy First teaches us to take everyone along, take everyone along and participate in everyone’s development. The spirit of Humanity First determines the direction of our decisions. When we make Humanity First the basis of decisions, the results are also in the interest of humanity.”
PM Modi said that today India is fulfilling its duty towards the world as Vishwabandhu. Whatever crisis there is in any country of the world, our honest effort is to reach there by accepting our responsibility. He said, “This is not the time for conflict for the world, but to identify the situations that create conflict and remove them. We have never moved forward with the spirit of expansionism. We have always stayed away from the spirit of capturing and grabbing resources. Today India stands in favor of global development and peace in every way. With this spirit, today India has also become the voice of the ‘Global South’.”
Referring to the historical similarities of the two countries, he said that during the freedom struggle, many people in Guyana and India dedicated their lives. Strengthening democracy in Guyana is contributing to the development of the world at every step. Along with strengthening democracy, we should also keep a constant eye on global situations.
PM Modi said that when India and Guyana got independence, the world had to face different challenges. Today the challenges of the 21st century are completely different. He said, “The systems and organisations established after the Second World War are crumbling. Today we are facing many challenges including terrorism, drug trafficking and cyber crime. We have to confront these issues head on to shape a better future for the coming generations. This can only be achieved by prioritising ‘Democracy First, Humanity First’.”
The Prime Minister said that our democratic values support us in every ups and downs while walking on the path of development. There is no greater tool than democracy in building an inclusive society. Democracy ensures protection of their rights and guarantees a bright future. We have shown that democracy is in our DNA and conduct.
