HN_ANI2_OD_BHUBANESWAR_PM_NARENDRA_MODI_18TH_PRAVASI_BHARTIYA_DIVAS_10-26-57

ETVBHARAT

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00:00of Government of the Republic of India, the Honorable Shri Mohan Charan Majhi, Chief Minister

00:06of Odisha, Chief Ministers of the different states in the Republic of India, distinguished

00:13members of Parliament of the Republic of India, distinguished dignitaries from abroad and

00:18members of the Indian Diaspora, members of the media, ladies and gentlemen, namaste and

00:25good morning.

00:27As I speak to you today, I am a ball of mixed emotions.

00:32One part of my heart is filled with happiness and delight at the honor and the privilege

00:37which have been bestowed on me to be your chief guest at this 18th Prabhasi Bharatiya

00:44Divas Convention.

00:47Another part of my heart is filled with sadness and regret that the circumstances do not make

00:52it possible for me to be physically present with you in Odisha today.

00:57Ever since I received the momentous news that I had been selected to be the Convention's

01:03chief guest this year, I have thought and spoken of little else.

01:08My almost every waking hour since then has been filled with anticipation and with planning

01:15as I set about doing everything I could to make sure that all was in place for my travels.

01:22When it became clear that the circumstances were such that I was not going to be able

01:27to travel to be with you in person today, I felt a deep and overwhelming disappointment.

01:34That pain is greatest of all today, as I think of all that the Convention offers and means

01:40to the Indian Diaspora, and of the fact that I am not able to be there in person with you.

01:48While I am grateful for the technology that allows me to address you today, I am still

01:54very much looking forward to the day when I can be with you in person and when I can

01:59experience India in all its beauty and majesty firsthand.

02:04I hope and I pray that that day comes soon.

02:09But the thing that fills my heart the most as I speak with you today is gratitude to

02:15the public of India for having chosen, as part of the Convention, to focus on the contributions

02:21that the Indian Diaspora has made to cultural, social and economic development globally.

02:28It is impossible to overstate how uplifting it is to members of the Indian Diaspora to

02:35know that the country of our origin carves out for us this sacred space during the Convention

02:42to reach across the seas, to find us in whatever parts of the world we are, and to embrace us.

02:49For us, it is an act of sublime love poured out upon us by a nation and a people who have

02:56made some of the greatest contributions to the upliftment of the world that our planet

03:01has ever seen.

03:03India's contributions to the world's development are remarkable and are reputed to include,

03:10among many other legendary accomplishments, the fact that the world's first university

03:16is said to have been established in Takshashila in 700 BC.

03:22Ayurveda is widely acknowledged as the earliest school of medicine known to humans.

03:28The art of navigation is said to have been born in the Sindhu River 6,000 years ago.

03:35Algebra, trigonometry and calculus were first developed in India, with India being the first

03:42country in civilization to use the zero as a symbol and in arithmetic operations.

03:49The game of chess is believed to have originated in eastern India.

03:54The decimal system is widely acknowledged to have been developed in India, and India's

04:00very own Sushruta is widely acknowledged to be the father of surgery.

04:06That a nation so great should pause and remember its descendants is, in and of itself,

04:13cause for tremendous celebration.

04:16I am therefore immensely thankful that the Republic of India has chosen to shine its

04:22powerful light on the contributions that, faithful to the source from which the spirit

04:28that animates their efforts comes, the Indian diaspora has made to cultural, social and

04:34economic development across the wider world.

04:39Over the last two decades, this convention has served not only as a platform for collaboration

04:45between India and its diaspora, but also as a means of recognizing the spirit of resilience,

04:52determination and service that has characterized the journey of persons of Indian descent

04:57the world over.

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