London: Prime Minister Narendra Modi today cited his predecessors Jawaharlal Nehru and Manmohan Singh to highlight the connected histories of India and the UK during his historic address to British MPs.
“The world must speak in one voice and act in unison to combat this challenge of our times,” Modi said while stating that terrorism and extremism are a global force that are larger than their changing names, groups, territories and targets.
“We must adopt a Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism in the UN without delay. There should be no distinction between terrorist groups or discrimination between nations. On the situation in the Indian sub-continent, Modi said India wants an Afghanistan that is shaped by the dreams of the great Afghan people, not by “irrational fears and overreaching ambitions” of others.
Modi told the British parliamentarians that we are living in a world where instability in a distant region quickly reaches our doorsteps and that we see this in the challenges of radicalization and refugees. “The fault lines are shifting from the boundaries of nations into the web of our societies and the streets of our cities,” he said. Stating that he is truly honoured to speak in the British Parliament, Modi said even in this globalised world, London is still the standard for our times.
Modi said Indians invest more in Britain than in the rest of EU combined not because they want to save on interpretation costs, but because they find an environment that is welcoming and familiar.
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