Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said the Sikh community embodied the ideals of “Ek Bharat, Shreshth Bharat” (One India, Great India) and had been a strong link in relations between India and other countries.
Addressing a Sikh delegation at his official residence in New Delhi in the presence of Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri, Mr. Modi said the entire country felt grateful to Sikhs for their contributions in the freedom struggle as well as in the post-independence era. The delegation comprised Sikhs of different walks of life.
The new India was touching new dimensions and leaving its mark on the whole world, Mr. Modi said, adding that the period of the coronavirus pandemic was the biggest example of this.
“At the beginning of the pandemic, people of an old mindset were expressing concerns about India but now people are giving examples of the country,” he said. “Earlier it was being said that with such a large population, from where will India get the vaccine, how will people’s lives be saved? But today India has emerged as the manufacturer of the biggest protective shield of vaccines,” Prime Minister Modi said.
Lauds diaspora
Lauding the Indian diaspora across the globe, Mr. Modi said he had always considered them as the country’s ambassadors. “All of you who are out of India are the loud voice of ‘Maa Bharati’, its lofty identity,” he said. The people of India went to different parts of the world without any resources and achieved success through their labour, adding that “this is the spirit of the new India.”.
He spoke of his own connection with the Sikh community at the meeting, saying that “going to gurdwaras, spending time in service, getting langar, and staying at the homes of Sikh families” have been a part of his life. “The feet of Sikh sants from time to time keep falling in the Prime Minister’s residence here. I keep getting the good fortune of their company,” he said.
Mr. Modi has met members of the Sikh community at frequent intervals. He had recently delivered an address from the Red Fort at an event to mark the 400th Parkash Parab (birth anniversary) of ninth Sikh guru Tegh Bahadur.
