Georgetown/New Delhi
Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave Guyana the mantra of “Democracy First – Humanity First” to move forward in the current world, saying that this makes it possible to benefit humanity by taking everyone along and developing everyone. Mr Modi gave this mantra while addressing a special session of the Parliament of Guyana. On this occasion, Speaker of Parliament Manzoor Nadir, Vice President Bharat Jagdev, Prime Minister Mark Anthony Phillips, Leader of Opposition, Chancellor of the Judiciary were also present.
The Prime Minister said that amidst efforts to strengthen democracy, we also have to keep a constant eye on the global situation today. When India and Guyana gained independence, the world faced different challenges. Today, the 21st century world faces different challenges. The systems and institutions built after the Second World War are collapsing, after Corona, where we were supposed to move towards a new global order, the world got entangled in other things, in these circumstances, the world is facing the strongest possibility of moving forward today. The mantra 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 our decisions, the results are also beneficial to humanity.
Shri Modi said that our democratic values are so strong that they support us in every ups and downs while walking on the path of development. There is no greater medium than democracy in building an inclusive society. Whatever be the religion or creed of the citizens, whatever be their background, democracy guarantees every citizen the protection of his rights and his bright future. And together we both countries have shown that democracy is not just a law, not just a system, we have shown that democracy is in our DNA, in our vision, in our conduct.
The Prime Minister said that our human-centric working style teaches us that the citizens of every country are equally important, hence, when it came to uniting the world, India, during its G-20 presidency, adopted the slogan ‘One Earth, One Family, Gave the mantra of ‘one future’. When the Corona crisis came and the entire humanity was challenged, India gave the message of ‘One Earth One Health’. When the efforts of every country had to be combined in climate related challenges, then India kept the vision of One World, One Sun, One Grid. When collective efforts were necessary to save the world from natural disasters, then India created CDRI i.e. Coalition for Launched Disaster Resilient Infrastructure initiative. When there was a need to create a large network of earth loving people in the world, then India started a global movement like Mission Life.
He said, following the same spirit of “Democracy First – Humanity First”, today India is fulfilling its duty towards the world as Vishwabandhu. Whatever be the crisis in any country of the world, it is our sincere effort to reach there by becoming the first responder. You have seen that period of Corona, when every country was busy protecting itself. Then India shared medicines and vaccines with more than 150 countries of the world. I am satisfied that India could also help the people of Guyana in that difficult period.”
Shri Modi said that wherever war situation arose in the world, India came forward for relief and rescue. Be it Sri Lanka, Maldives, whichever countries faced crisis, India came forward and helped selflessly. From Nepal to Turkey and Syria, wherever earthquakes occurred, India was the first to reach there. These are our values, we have never moved forward with selfishness, we have never moved forward with the spirit of expansionism. We have always stayed away from the feeling of occupying resources, grabbing resources.
He said, “I believe, be it space or sea, these should not be subjects of universal conflict but of universal cooperation. For the world too, this is not the time for conflict, this is the time to identify and remove the reasons causing conflict. Today there are many such challenges like terrorism, drugs, cyber crime, only by facing which we will be able to improve the future of our future generations. And this is possible only when we give central place to democracy first and humanity first.”
The Prime Minister said that India has always spoken on the basis of principles, trust and transparency. If even one country, even one region is left behind, our global goals will never be achieved. That’s why India says – every country is important! Therefore, India does not consider island countries as small island countries but as big ocean countries. In this spirit, we created the Sagar Platform for the island countries connected to the Indian Ocean. We have also created a special forum to connect the countries of the Pacific Ocean. With this good intention, India fulfilled its duty by including the African Union in G-20 during its presidency of G-20.