PrintFriendly
India pulled 250 million people out of poverty in the last ten years: PM Modi
Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi during his five days visit (from 18 to 23 November 2024) of three-countries participated in 31 bilateral meetings and informal interactions with world leaders.
As per official sources these diplomatic engagements included a bilateral meeting with the Nigerian president in Nigeria, 10 bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Brazil and nine during his visit to Guyana.
In Brazil, Prime Minister Modi held bilateral meetings with the leaders of the country, besides those of Indonesia, Portugal, Italy, Norway, France, the UK, Chile, Argentina and Australia. These were marked by his maiden bilateral meetings with Indonesian leader Prabowo Subianto, Portugal’s Luis Montenegro, the UK’s Keir Starmer, Chile’s Gabriel Boric, and Argentina’s Javier Milei, the officials noted.
On the sidelines of the G20,Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi also had informal interactions and meetings with the leaders of Singapore, South Korea, Egypt, the USA and Spain and with the heads and executives of various international organisations like Ursula von der Leyen of the European Union; Antonio Guterres of the United Nations; Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala of the World Trade Organization; Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus of the World Health Organization; and Kristalina Georgieva and Gita Gopinath of the IMF.
In Guyana, Prime Minister Shri Modi held bilateral meetings with the leaders of Guyana, Dominica, Bahamas, Trinidad & Tobago, Suriname, Barbados, Antigua & Barbuda, Grenada and St Lucia.
Social Inclusion and the Fight against Hunger and Poverty
On November 18th and 19th local time (from 18th to 20th JST), the G20 Rio de Janeiro Summit was held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, hosted by Brazil as the G20 Presidency. It was chaired by H.E. Mr. Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi addressing the opening session of the G 20 Summit on ‘Social Inclusion and the Fight against Hunger and Poverty’ thanked the President of Brazil, H.E Mr. Luis Inacio Lula Da Silva, for hosting the Summit and for his gracious hospitality. He appreciated the Brazilian G20 agenda focused on Sustainable Development Goals, noting that this approach highlighted the concerns of the Global South and took forward the people-centric decisions of the New Delhi G20 Summit. He further underscored that the Indian G20 presidency’s call for “One Earth, One Family, One Future” continued to resonate at the Rio conversations.
Speaking about India’s initiatives to deal with hunger and poverty, Prime Minister noted that India had pulled 250 million people out of poverty in the last ten years and was distributing free foodgrains to 800 million people in the country. Speaking about India’s success in tackling food security, PM emphasized that its approach based on ‘Back to Basics and March to Future’ was yielding results. He further elaborated on measures taken by India to foster women-led development.
Prime Minister also highlighted the steps taken by India to strengthen food security in Africa and elsewhere. In this regard, he welcomed the Brazilian initiative to establish a Global Alliance against Hunger and Poverty, underlining that the Global South was severely impacted by food, fuel and fertilizer crises created by the ongoing conflicts, and therefore, their concerns ought to be given primacy.
Sustainable Development and Energy Transition
Addressing the session of the G 20 Summit on Sustainable Development and Energy Transition he noted that during the New Delhi G 20 Summit, the group had resolved to triple renewable energy capacity and double the energy efficiency rate by 2030. He welcomed Brazil’s decision to take forward these sustainable development priorities.
Prime Minister elaborated on the steps taken by India to foster sustainable development. He stated that India had provided housing to 40 million families in the last ten years; 120 million households with clean drinking water in the last five years; 100 million families with clean cooking fuel and 115 million families with toilets.
Highlighting that India was the first G 20 country to meet its Paris commitments, Prime Minister noted that India has set an ambitious target to produce 500 gw of renewable energy by 2030, of which 200 gw has been achieved. He further spoke about the global initiatives taken by India, such as the International Solar Alliance, Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure, Mission LiFE, One Sun One World One Grid, and Global Biofuel Alliance to foster a sustainable planet. Calling for giving primacy to the sustainable development needs of the Global South, particularly the Small Island Developing States, Prime Minister urged countries to support the Global Development Compact announced by India at the third Voice of the Global South Summit.
PM’s Guyana visit
Upon arrival in Georgetown in Guyana, Prime Minister was warmly received by President, Dr. Mohamed Irfaan Ali and Prime Minister, Mark Anthony Phillips. And almost the entire cabinet of Guyana was present, both at the airport and at the hotel, to receive Prime Minister. He was accorded a ceremonial reception at the airport, and on arrival at the hotel. He was received by the President again, by the Prime Minister of Grenada, Prime Minister Dickon, and Prime Minister Mia Mottley of Barbados, and several cabinet ministers. He was also given great honor by being presented with the key to the city of Georgetown by the Mayor of Georgetown. It was remarkable that so many people had turned up at the hotel, even despite the lateness of the hour. It was nearly midnight by the time Prime Minister had reached the hotel, and he was given a tumultuous welcome to Georgetown.
President Mohamed Irfaan Ali welcomed Prime Minister at the State House with a ceremonial guard of honor. The two leaders held restricted meeting, as well as delegation-level talks. During the interactions, they discussed the entire gamut of India-Guyana relations. Ten agreements were exchanged between the two sides, and these covered areas such as hydrocarbons and energy, health and pharmaceuticals, agriculture, digital cooperation, culture, defence and security studies, etc.
Prime Minister and President, together, planted a sapling in honor of President Ali’s mother at the State House as part of the initiative of ‘Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam’, highlighting the shared commitment to sustainability between India and Guyana. President Irfaan Ali, in a very heartwarming gesture, hosted Prime Minister over a traditional 7-curries meal.
2nd India-CARICOM Summit
After holding bilateral engagements with Guyana, Prime Minister co-chaired the 2nd India-CARICOM Summit, along with Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell of Grenada, the current Chair of CARICOM. The Summit was attended by Heads of States and Government of 11 member States; Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Dominica, Guyana, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, and the foreign ministers of Belize, Jamaica and St. Kitts and Nevis. The Secretary-General of the Caribbean Community, Dr. Carla Barnett, was also present.
The leaders witnessed a fly past of the recently acquired HAL 228 aircraft, two of which Guyana has received from India and have been commissioned. This is to further strengthen the India-CARICOM partnership. Prime Minister put forward seven pillar proposals as C-A-R-I-C-O-M, as CARICOM, standing for C for Capacity building, A for Agriculture and food security, R for Renewable energy and climate change, I for Innovation, technology and trade, C for Cricket and culture, O for Ocean economy and maritime security, and M for Medicine and health care.
CARICOM leaders in one voice applauded these initiatives from India. They highly appreciated Prime Minister’s special efforts to strengthen relations with the Group. His seven pillars encompassing all the issues of relevance to CARICOM nations was highly appreciated. These include issues facing CARICOM countries, such as high incidence of non-communicable diseases such as cancer and diabetes, shortage of skilled manpower, climate resilience and sustainable development, energy security including exploitation of renewable energy, national security including coastal surveillance, connectivity, particularly inter-island maritime connectivity for both goods and passengers, and women empowerment and the promotion of women’s cricket.
The leaders were highly appreciative of all the initiatives that have been taken by the Prime Minister, and they in particular appreciated the fact that at the height of COVID pandemic, India had come to the assistance of the CARICOM countries by donating vaccines and also providing other forms of medical assistance. They also appreciated the fact that Prime Minister’s initiatives correctly matched the felt need of the CARICOM countries and the leader after leader expressed a view that India is like a family member of the CARICOM community. They thanked Prime Minister for the visit and commended India’s efforts for proposing a roadmap to further our ties.
Following the India-CARICOM Summit, which was only the second such summit held between the two sides, the first one was on the margins of the United Nations General Assembly in New York in 2019. So, this was really the very first Summit that was happening in the CARICOM country.
PM addresses the Special Session of Parliament in Guyana
Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi also addressed the Special Session of Parliament of Guyana, where he emphasized the power of democracy and humanity to address the world’s issues. He was given a standing ovation. Later, Prime Minister paid tributes to the statue of Mahatma Gandhi and the Arya Samaj monument. Prime Minister also visited the Indian Arrival monument and paid homage to the
forefathers who arrived in Guyana 186 years ago. He visited the Saraswati Vidya Niketan School, which he had also visited in his first visit to Guyana 24 years ago. He had spent some time at this school at that time.
In short while, Prime Minister addressed the gathering of the Indian diaspora. India’s relations with Guyana, date back to more than 185 years, with the first arrival of Indians on the 5th of May, 1838. Today, the Guyanese Indian community comprise roughly 40% or about 300,000 out of Guyana’s total population and is a very vital link in our relationship. Prime Minister has also interacted with some of the people he met here 24 years ago during his visit and he also interacted with some of the famous cricketers of Guyana, including Clive Lloyd, Alvin Kallicharran, Shiv Narayan Chanderpaul, Devendra Bishoo, Hetmyer and others.
Apart from the recently highest civilian honours bestowed by Guyana, Dominica & Nigeria PM Shri Modi also received these following awards /honours
______________________________________________________________________________________________
Prime Minister MODI holds official talks with President of Nigeria
Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi was on a State Visit to Nigeria from 17-18 November 2024. He held official talks with the President of Nigeria, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, in Abuja on 17 November. Upon arrival at the State House, Prime Minister was accorded a ceremonial welcome with a 21-gun salute.
The two leaders had a restricted meeting which was followed by delegation level talks. Prime Minister recalled his warm meeting with President Tinubu at the G 20 Summit in New Delhi. He noted that the two countries enjoy special bonds of friendship defined by a shared past, common democratic values and strong people-to-people ties. Prime Minister conveyed his sympathies to President Tinubu for the destruction caused by the recent floods in the country. President Tinubu thanked Prime Minister for India’s timely assistance with relief material and medicines.
The two leaders reviewed the ongoing bilateral cooperation and discussed ways to further strengthen India-Nigeria Strategic Partnership. Expressing satisfaction at the progress of ties, they agreed that there was immense potential for collaboration in the fields of trade, investment, education, energy, health, culture, and people-to-people ties.
Shri Modi also addressed the Indian diaspora at an event organized in his honour by the Indian community in Abuja, Nigeria. The Prime Minister expressed happiness over the grand welcome he received with special warmth and exuberance by the Indian community. He said that the love and friendship received from the community was a huge capital to him.