Countries supporting terror must be held accountable:Modi

SINGAPORE: Delivering the 37th lecture on India’s Singapore story, Prime Minister Narendra Modi emphasised on the need for the world to speak in one voice and countries supporting terror must be held accountable. Mr Modi delivered the lecture on November 23 in Singapore.

On his maiden visit to the country, Mr Modi spoke about India and Singapore sharing a special relationship. Praising Singapore for its progress, Mr Modi said, Singapore’s success became an aspiration of Indians. He also paid tribute to the architect of modern Singapore and the first Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew. Mr Modi spoke about India deepening political, security, defence and economic ties with all the ASEAN countries. Here are the excerpts from the speech in Singapore on November 23:

As Asia’s first Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore predicted on a visit to this region nearly a century ago, Asia is regaining its self-consciousness for realization of its own self.
Here in Singapore, where the region’s currents merge; its diversity converges; ideas meet; and, aspirations gather wings, I feel that we are closer to that vision than ever before.
And as India pursues its transformation and strives for a peaceful and stable world, Singapore will be a major partner on that journey.
In Singapore, where the region’s currents merge; its diversity converges; I feel that we are closer to that vision than ever before.
India will lend its strength to keep the seas safe, secure and free for the benefit of all.
The world must speak in one voice and act in unison. There will be political, legal, military and intelligence efforts. But, we must do more.
Nations must cooperate more with each other. Societies must reach out within and to each other. We must delink terrorism from religion, and assert the human values that define every faith.
We will engage constructively across the complexity of their relationship as to self-assured and confident nations.
There are few partnerships that enjoy so much goodwill in India as our relations with Japan.
Asia’s re-emergence is the greatest phenomenon of our era.
We will engage constructively across the complexity of their relationship as to self-assured and confident nations.
There are few partnerships that enjoy so much goodwill in India as our relations with Japan.
Asia’s re-emergence is the greatest phenomenon of our era.
Singapore’s success became an aspiration of Indians. And, in turn, India became the hope for a more peaceful, balanced and stable world.
It is with the same vision that we are pursuing the transformation of India: people are the power behind the change.
With almost the entire region, India has frameworks of economic cooperation. We want to be more deeply integrated with the regional economy. And, we will upgrade our partnership agreements and work for an early conclusion of Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement.
ASEAN is the anchor of our Act East Policy. We are linked by geography and history, united against many common challenges and bound by many shared aspirations.
We are a few days away from Paris, where we must achieve concrete outcome, in accordance with the principles of UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. This is especially important for our region, particularly the small island states.
Ours is a region of enormous promise. But, we know that enduring peace and prosperity are not inevitable.
So, we must work hard to realize our vision of an Asian Century.
Asia has the wisdom of its ancient cultures and all the great religions of the world. It also has the energy and drive of youth.
For me, Lee Kuan Yew was a personal inspiration. From his Singapore Stories, I drew many lessons.
I can do no better than to begin with homage to one of the tallest leaders of our times, the architect of modern Singapore – Lee Kuan Yew.
To the people of Singapore, on 50 years of Independence, I extend the greetings of 1.25 billion friends and admirers.

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