Narendra Modi’s 10th March address to NRIs (Video)


Gandhinagar, 10 March 2013

Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi today exhorted Indians settled abroad to fulfill Swami Vivekanand’s dream of making India a strong nation, to showcase to the world that “India can, India will.”

In his 50-minute long address with Non-Resident Indians and Non-Resident Gujaratis assembled in Chicago and New Jersey, telecast live from his official residence here, he began his speech with greetings to entire India Diaspora on the auspicious of Shiva Ratri today.

Mr. Modi said that India is the most youthful nation in the world and is capable of changing the fate of youth around the world. This being the 150th birth anniversary year of Swami Vivekanand, he said, we have to fulfill the monk’s resolve to make India Vishwa Guru, to make India first in whatever it does.

He also had a word of Mahatma Gandhi’s classmate Virchand Gandhi who shared platform with Swami Vivekanand at the World Parliament of Religion at Chicago in 1893. He said there is a statue of Virchand Gandhi in Chicago.

The Chief Minister thanked ‘Overseas Friends of BJP’ for making arrangements to telecast the proceeding by TV Asia American Channel, besides several Indian News TV Channels, to the other part of the globe at 6.30 a.m. IST, it being late evening in America. The event established him as a national political leader.

Mr. Modi said: “My definition of true secularism is ‘India first and foremost’ to whatever we do, to tell the world ‘India is one’, ‘India is best’, ‘India can and India will’. It is our onerous duty to make the world realize our patriotism and pride. The resolve of 125-crore Indians to make India first in our every action is the strength of secularism.”

He said that if we can arrange Mahakumbh at such a grandiose scale with crores of devotees taking a holy dip at the same time in the Ganges, we have reason to believe in the universal mantra that ‘we can, we will’. He wished the mega event was telecast to many more nations.

Mr. Modi said that devotion to Shiva taught us peaceful coexistence with Nature, even providing solution to Global Warming. Lord Shiva’s family included all animals and birds living together on land, atop trees and in rivers. Shiva consumed poison, vices and aberrations and churn out nectar for the mankind. This is India’s concept of coexistence and contribution to the world.

He said that people of Indian origin living abroad should maintain their link with their motherland, language and traditions. In this 21st Century the competition is between India and China. India could not take lead in the Industrial Revolution of the 19th Century as it was a slave country then. While the first half of the 20th Century was spent in gaining freedom and the next half in creating atmosphere that India is capable of leading the world. The 21st century began with Atal Behari Vajpayee’s NDA Government nuclear test at Pokhran to give a glimpse of the India’s might as it raised India’s esteem, but the recent developments took the country back to the age of darkness and gloom.

Mr. Modi said that Gujarat’s last decade of development, good governance and societal inclusiveness has rekindled hope among the people. While the world is passing through economic downturn with its adverse impact on most prosperous nations like America, Gujarat’s development story shows the beckon light to the world.

While Government of India has made budgetary provision of Rs.1,000-crore for skill development of the youth in the entire country, he said, a small state like Gujarat alone has set aside Rs.800-crore on the same head. He exuded confidence that Gujarat can and will overcome any problem with its ‘politics and development’, and has won elections too, as the state’s ‘development model’ has become a talk of the nation and the world.

Talking about the ‘politics of development’, he said that people tend to pardon errors and omissions if one is constantly committed to the welfare of the people and stuck to the politics of development. Six-crore Gujaratis are my family as I share their happiness and sorrow. Gujarat’s story of development is founded on people’s repeatedly reposing their trust on the government.

There is a paradox, too. He said that while Gujaratis make the best tourists, Gujarat could not become the best tourist destination, despite having such wonderful Somnath and Dwarka, Gandhi Ashram at Porbandar and Ahmedabad and Gir lions. He appealed to each NRI to motivate at least ten NRI families to India. Let’s make Gujarat as the best tourist destination and India super tourist destination.

A large number of people present at Chicago and New Jersey assemblies, led by Messrs Jayesh Patel, Chandrakant Patel, H.R. Shah and Mahesh Mehta, gave a standing ovation to Mr. Modi for winning the hearts of people through public life.