Last Updated: October 13, 2023, 17:25 IST
At the ninth P20 Summit in Delhi, PM Modi said that Parliaments are an important place for debate and deliberations.
PM Narendra Modi’s comments, echoing his ‘Not an era of war’ sentiment, came amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas war that has claimed over 2,800 lives on both sides
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said terrorism anywhere in the world and in any form is against humanity, and stressed that is the time for peace and brotherhood and to move forward while walking together. His comments, echoing his ‘Not an era of war’ sentiment, came amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas war that has claimed more than 2,800 lives on both sides.
The prime minister said conflicts or confrontations in any part of the world impact everyone and are not beneficial, as he called for the world to move forward with a human-centric approach. Addressing the inaugural session of the ninth G20 Parliamentary Speakers’ Summit (P20) in New Delhi, he also said we have to remove obstacles in the way of global trust.
Referring to the attack on the Indian Parliament some 20 years ago, Prime Minister Modi said India has been facing cross-border terrorism that has claimed thousands of innocent lives. He noted that the world was now realising how big a challenge terrorism is.
“Terrorism anywhere, in whatever manifestation, is against humanity,” he said.
The PM further said consensus not being achieved on the definition of terrorism was saddening and the enemies of humanity are taking advantage of this situation. He said parliaments across the world would have to think how to work together to combat terrorism.
Talking about the upcoming Lok Sabha elections in 2024, PM Modi said 100 crore people will cast their vote and invited all P20 delegates to visit again next year to witness the polls. He said India has conducted 17 general elections and more than 300 state assembly polls so far and, the general elections in 2019, where his party became victorious for the second time in a row, was the world’s biggest election.
Modi said the use of EVMs has boosted transparency and efficiency in the election process and results are now declared within hours of the start of counting of votes. He also referred to the legacy of thousands of years of debates and deliberations in India and said some texts, over 5,000 years old, also talked about such systems.
The event is being attended by speakers of parliaments of G20 members and invitee countries. The Pan-African Parliament will take part in the P20 Summit for the first time after the African Union became a G20 member last month.