Amidst Israel-Hamas and Russia-Ukraine wars, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday appealed for peace and brotherhood. He emphasised that conflicts do not benefit anyone.
Modi was addressing the P20 conference, a summit for Speakers of Parliaments of G20 members and invitee countries. The Pan-African Parliament will take part in the P20 Summit for the first time after the African Union became a member of G20 at the New Delhi G20 Leaders’ Summit last month.
“This is the time for peace and brotherhood, a time to move together. This is a time for growth and well-being of all. We have to overcome the global trust crisis and move forward with human-centric thinking. We have to look at the world in the spirit of One Earth, One Family, One Future,” he said.
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He called for ending the crisis in global trust and moving forward with a human-centric approach. “Everyone is aware of what is happening in various parts of the world. The world is grappling with conflicts and confrontations, such a world full of conflicts and confrontations is not in anyone’s interest. A divided world cannot provide solutions to the big challenges before humanity,” the Prime Minister said.
While he did not name any specific conflict or issue, his remarks come amid a raging war between Israel and Hamas which has already seen a large number of casualties.
Modi also called for taking a tough approach to dealing with terrorism. “As you know India has been facing the issue of cross-border terrorism for decades. Terrorists have killed thousands of innocents in India. Near the new Parliament building, you will find the old Parliament building. About 20 years ago, terrorists had targeted our Parliament. You will be startled to know that Parliament was in session at that time,” he said while adding that the world is also realising how big a challenge terrorism is for the world.
“Terrorism, wherever it may be, for whatever reason, in whatever form, is against humanity. In such a scenario, we will have to adopt a tough approach in dealing with terrorism,” he said.
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Modi said it was saddening that consensus has not been achieved on the definition of terrorism. “Today also, in the UN, the international convention on combating terrorism is waiting for consensus,” he said and added that “enemies of humanity” are taking advantage of this approach of the world.
The Prime Minister also underlined that there can be no better medium than public participation to deal with the world’s challenges. “I have always believed that governments are formed by majority, but the country is run by consensus,” he said.
He said 100 crore voters will cast their vote next year in general elections in India and invited all P20 delegates to visit again next year to witness the polls. India has conducted 17 general elections and over 300 State assembly polls so far and the general elections in 2019, where his party became victorious for the second time in a row, was the world’s biggest election, he noted. Further, he said the use of EVMs has boosted transparency and efficiency in the election process and results are now declared within hours of the start of counting of votes. He also referred to the legacy of thousands of years of debates and deliberations in India and said some of our over 5,000-year-old texts also talked about such systems.