Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed students at Visva Bharati University in Bengal's Santiniketan
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, along with his Bangladeshi counterpart Sheikh Hasina and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee today attended the convocation of Visva Bharati University and inaugurate the Bangladesh Bhavan in Bengal's Santiniketan. During his visit, PM Modi addressed the students at Visva Bharati as well as gave a speech after inaugurating Bangladesh Bhavan. The prime minister fondly remembered Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore in both speeches.
Here are the highlights of PM Narendra Modi's speeches in Bengal's Santiniketan:
- We are here to honour tradition today. I congratulate the ones who have got a degree today and wish them the best for the future.
- Your degree is the proof of your educational prowess. But you haven't just got a degree here, you have received something much more unique. You are the custodians of a great legacy.
- You all are custodians of a culture that is both ancient and modern.
- Gurdev (Rabindranath Tagore) said the world is one nest, one home. Gurudev gave his entire life to the belief that 'world is one family' (Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam).
- Rarely has there been a convocation where the prime minister's of two countries have been present.
- Our countries (India and Bangladesh) are joined in cooperation and collaboration.
- During my travels abroad I found people everywhere treat Rabindranath Tagore with so much respect.
- Rabindranath Tagore was a global citizen. His brother Satyendranath Tagore was the first Indian to join the civil services. He worked as a commissioner in Ahemdabad. There, for six months, he taught English literature to Gurudev (Rabindranath Tagore).
- Rabindranath Tagore always stressed on holding on to his Indian-ness. He had written about this in a letter to his son-in-law.
- Simplicity is the main principle of education at Shantiniketan.
- In 2021, this institution will complete 100 years. By then can you take the partnership for progress you have with 50 villages to a 100 or 200?
- Bangladesh and India bonded by cooperation and understanding.
- Be it about culture or public policy, Bangladesh and India can learn a lot of things from each other.
- India and Bangladesh have many bonds of unity. This (Santiniketan) is that symbol of unity that could not be divided by the British nor the politics of partition.
- Mujibur Rehman is equally respected in India as he is in Bangladesh.
- Rabindranath Tagore, Swami Vivekananda, and many others are respected very much in Bangladesh. Just like Rabindranath Tagore is celebrated in Bangladesh, Kazi Nazrul is revered in West Bengal.
- Gurudev was a man of independent thoughts. As much as he was of India's, he was of Bangladesh's too. Bangbandhu himself was a great admirer of Tagore.
- The fight for Bangladesh's freedom might have been across the border, but the inspiration came from this side. The pain of bloodshed on that side was felt here too.
- For some time now, the Golden Period of India-Bangladesh ties has been underway.
- I congratulate Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and people of Bangladesh for having launched their first satellite. I am sure our countries will cooperate even more in the future in the arena of space technology.
- Both India and Bangladesh face similar challenges like climate change. But our goals are similar too - like electrifying every last home, ensuring affordable healthcare to all, etc.
- I would like to thank Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina for Bangladesh's participation in the International Solar Alliance summit.