PM Modi has always emphasised making Gandhian values an integral part of our lives. He is often heard quoting Mahatma Gandhi’s teachings in his speeches, not only when he is speaking to the countrymen, but also when he addresses the global community, be it from the United Nations or during his international visits.
PM Modi has paid rich tributes to the Mahatma whenever he’s visited a foreign nation. In September 2014, when PM Modi visited the USA, he offered floral tributes to Mahatma Gandhi in Washington DC.
The same year, when PM Modi travelled to Australia in November, he unveiled a statue of Mahatma Gandhi at Brisbane. In a short speech on the occasion, PM Modi said, “On October 2, 1869, it was not just a person who was born in Porbandar … but an era was born.”
In March 2015, during his Mauritius tour, Prime Minister Modi paid floral tributes to Bapu.
In April 2015, PM Modi had unveiled a bust of Mahatma Gandhi in Hannover, Germany.
In July, the same year, PM Modi unveiled a statue of Bapu in Bagtyarlyk Sports Complex in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan.
The Prime Minister, during the same month, unveiled a statue of Bapu at Bishkek, Krygyzstan.
November 2015, when PM Modi was visiting the UK, he paid rich tributes to Bapu’s statue, outside the UK Parliament. He was accompanied by former UK PM David Cameron.
Mahatma Gandhi spent several years in South Africa before he returned to India. PM Modi, during his visit to South Africa in July 2016, visited the places associated with Mahatma Gandhi. He paid tributes to Bapu at Johannesburg as well as Sarvodaya in Phoenix Settlement, which was Mahatma Gandhi’s residence.
PM Modi also retraced Mahatma Gandhi’s train journey in South Africa. He boarded a train from Pentrich Railway Station in Durban to
Pietermaritzburg, recalling the 1893 incident when Mahatma Gandhi was thrown out of the train compartment on account of his skin colour.
During the Prime Minister’s Kenya visit in July 2016, he visited the University of Nairobi, where he recalled Mahatma Gandhi’s teachings and paid tributes to Bapu.
In July 2017, PM Modi visited Portugal where he and Portuguese PM Antonio Costa, paid homage to Mahatma Gandhi in Lisbon.
In February 2019, PM Modi and South Korean President Moon Jae-in unveiled a bust of Gandhi at the Yonsei University in Seoul. PM Modi said that Bapu’s thoughts and ideals have the power to help us overcome the menace of terrorism and climate change, two challenges humanity faces in these times.
