P

rime Minister Narendra Modi today addressed the Indi-Japan Samwad Conference via video conferencing where he said during the discussions that global growth cannot occur only among a few as the ‘table must be bigger’ followed by wide-ranging agendas. In the past instead of collaboration humanity often took the pathway of confrontation, the PM added. Modi said, “From imperialism to world wars. From the arms race to the space race, we had dialogues but they had the aim of pulling others down. Now, let us rise together. Discussions on global growth cannot happen only between a few. The table must be bigger. The agenda must be broader. Growth patterns must follow human centric approach, and be in harmony with our surroundings.” Keeping humanism at the core of politics is what PM Modi called for.

The prime minister in his address at the conference proposed a library creation which will be fully dedicated to the Buddhists traditional literature and scriptures. PM Modi said, “We will be happy to create such a facility in India and will provide appropriate resources for it.” He further added that the library will have a collection of digitized copies of Buddhist literature from various countries and its main aim will be to translate them and make those literatures freely available for the monks and scholars of Buddhism. “The library will not only be a depository of literature. It will also be a platform for research and dialogue- a true samvad between human beings, between societies and between humans and nature” said PM Modi at the conference.

Noting that the teachings of Buddha have the strength to command and turn enmity to empowerment, PM Modi concluded by saying that the research mandate will include how Buddha’s message can be a guidance to the modern world against the contemporary challenges.