Following his six-day official visits across three countries, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said that he used every moment of the tour for India’s good, as BJP workers and supporters accorded him a warm welcome on his return, reported PTI.
PM Modi addressed the gathering outside the Palam airport in New Delhi and said that the Indian diaspora event in Sydney was not only attended by the Australian PM, but also by former PM, MPs from Opposition parties as well as the ruling party.
“This is the strength of democracy. All of them together participated in this program of the Indian community,” the PM said, in a subtle reference to as many as 20 Opposition parties boycotting the event.
The new Parliament building is set to inaugurate on May 28, which has created a major row, with Opposition parties criticising the BJP government saying that it should be the President of India, the highest constitutional authority of India, who should be inaugurating it.
PM Modi said that the “world is eager to listen” to him as and when he tries to raise such an issue. “I want to tell you that while speaking about the culture and great tradition of India, never get immersed in a slave mentality, speak with courage. The world is eager to listen. The world agrees with me when I say that attack on our pilgrimage sites is not acceptable,” he said.
Concluding his three-nation visit to Japan, Papua New Guinea and Australia on Wednesday, PM Modi said today the world wants to know what India is thinking.
PM Modi said, “The people here asked me why I gave the vaccines to the world. I want to say that this is the land of Buddha, Gandhi. We care even for our enemies… Today the world wants to know what India is thinking.”
He also spoke about India’s growing stature in the world and how it is being respected globally and said that this confidence comes from forming an absolute majority and thanked the people for reposing faith in his government.
“When I talk about the culture of my country, I look into the eyes of the world. This confidence has come because you have formed a government with an absolute majority in the country. Those who have come here are people who love India, not PM Modi,” he added.
