Invoking Mahatma Gandhi in his address at the United Nations General Assembly, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said that 'one must care about the world one will not see', adding that the top-most priority must be the eradication of poverty from the world.
The prime minister said that 'Agenda 2030' is very important for the future and the world must begin to make a concentrated effort about things that affect the future generations.
"1.3 billion people are living in poverty in the world. Today, we are here to decide on the new direction for humanity. Eradicating poverty is our most important mission. Even the poor deserve the right to proper education and developing life saving skills," Prime Minister Modi said.
He also said that 'peace and development' is linked to poverty eradication.
Here are highlights of Prime Minister Modi's speech:
* We must reform the United Nations, including the Security Council so that it carries greater credibility & legitimacy.
* We must not become selfish when it comes to dealing with the problem of climate change
* I want everyone to prosper and thats what I pray for; everyone's happiness, and prosperity
* We need to create a world where everyone feels safe, is respected and has opportunities to grow
* Our international relations need to keep development of the mankind at the centre.
* I hope that technology facilitation, technology innovation will contribute a lot to the development of the world.
* A global education program needs to be started so that future generations learn to form a relationship with the nature.
* The principle of common but differentiated responsibilities is the foundation of our enterprise for a sustainable world.
* We see the entire world as one family
* We are working towards making agriculture more productive and helping farmers who are suffering from natural adversities
* I represent a culture where the earth is considered our mother
* We are working on bringing changes to our nation, to make our cities smart. Our way to development needs to be sustainable.
* Women empowerment is an essential part of our plan
* Education and skill development is our priority. We want to empower the poor. We worked on financial inclusion in mission mode
* Mahatma Gandhi had spoken about caring for a world that we will not see.
* If we all want the world to be peaceful & development for the world, poverty needs to be tackled.
Our international relations need to keep development of the mankind at the centre:
He added that his government's top priority was to provide housing to the poor and opening bank accounts for them.
Image: Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressing the high-level summit on sustainable development hosted by the UN. Photograph: Paresh Gandhi/Rediff.com
