IANS
SEOUL, MAY 18
[dropcap]P[/dropcap]rime Minister Narendra Modi, addressing the Indian community in Seoul, said on Monday that the world's perception of India has changed since his government took over a year ago and that "humanity" lay at the centre of the country's foreign policy. Addressing a cheering 1,500-strong Indian community here, Modi said a key component of his government's foreign policy is the Act East Policy. "Earlier, it was Look East Policy.. We have seen that for a long time," he said in a swipe at the previous UPA government, amid chants of "Modi, Modi".
He also said that the "I" or India among the BRICS bloc of countries had begun to "teeter and stumble" but after his government came to power, India is moving fast on the growth path.
"Economists had changed their tune and began saying that the aI' of BRICS is stumbling and fallinga They said that BRICS was losing its importance because the aIa¿ has begun teetering (ludak gaya)."
"But in the past year things have changed and the world feels that without 'I' BRICS will not be possible," he said to cheering crowd.
Modi said all the international rating agencies like Moody's and the World Bank have in the past two months "in one voice" said that India is the world's fastest moving economy. "Earlier, we would wonder if India would figure in Asian century story. But now the way India has risen they feel that the 21st century will definitely be the Asian century."
He said that "manavta" or humanity was at the centre of his government's foreign policy, which was visible in the way India helped in Nepal in the aftermath of the earthquake, helped bring drinking water to Maldives when its drinking water plant was damaged, and also saw passage of a constitution amendment bill to implement the Land Boundary Agreement with Bangladesh.
He said his government successfully evacuated over 4,000 Indians from war-ravaged Yemen bombings and firings. "We requested (Saudi authorities) to stop the bombing for two hours and brought back our people as well as 48 foreign nationals. Even America told its people to contact us to evacuate them from Yemen," he said to loud applause.
"In Yemen, we evacuated Pakistanis too. They too saved Indians and arranged for a special plane to bring them back. The point here is manavta (humanity)."
He said earlier foreign policy was dictated by trade and commerce and big sounding words.
"We have chosen a new path, of humanity, and to keep manavta as the kendrabindu (centrepoint) of our foreign policy."
He said the concept of SAARC is getting a new impetus on the basis of humanity, which is helping bring countries together.
He said the Sri Lankan government desisted in carrying out the death sentence on five Indian fishermen on the basis of humanity.
He mentioned the release of Indian aid worker Father Alexis Premkumar Antonysamy in Afghanistan, more than eight months after he was kidnapped by the Taliban. He said the land swap with Bangladesh had not taken place ever since the 1974 Land Boundary Agreement was inked due to doubts and misunderstandings. But his government "resolved it in one year". Modi thanked all political parties for the passage of the bill in parliament.
Modi said India helped Nepal during the quake and that Nepal Prime Minister Sushil Koirala "said publicly that he learnt of the quake from Modi's twitter (post)".
He said India ran to wipe the tears after the Nepal quake and will stand shoulder to shoulder with its neighbor.
Earlier, Modi arrived from Ulan Bator in Mongolia on the third and final leg of his three-nation tour. He was in China earlier.
He lay a wreath at the Seoul National Cemetery. His address to the Indian community was the second event in Seoul.
India and South Korea today inked seven agreements, including on avoidance of double taxation and formalising consultations between National Security Councils of the two nations, to boost bilateral ties.
The agreements were signed after Prime Minister Narendra Modi held talks with South Korean President Park Geun-hye here.
The India-South Korea Double Taxation Avoidance Convention signed in 1985 has been revised with a view to avoiding the burden of double taxation on taxpayers in the two countries.
The two nations also agreed to cooperate in audio-visual co-production.
The agreement in this regard is being signed under the provisions of India-South Korea Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) and would enable co-production of films, animation and broadcasting programmes.
The pact would enable opportunities for collaboration between Indian and Korean film industries, and facilitate collaboration and exchange.
The two nations also signed an MOU for cooperation between the National Security Council Secretariat of India and the Office of National Security of South Korea.
This would formalise consultations between National Security Councils of the two countries in a number of areas.
Another MOU was signed between the Ministry of Power and the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy of South Korea on cooperation in the field of electric power development and new energy industries.
The agreement envisages cooperation in areas such as renewable energy, smart grids and power information and technology, transmission and distribution of electric power, energy efficiency and storage system.
The two nations also signed an MoU to strengthen and encourage cooperation on youth matters through participation in events and activities through exchanges, international conferences, seminars, youth camps, festivals etc.
The two sides also signed Framework of Cooperation (FOC) in the Field of Road Transport and Highways.
The FOC envisages cooperation in areas including road policies, design and construction, road operation, road management and safety, intelligent transport systems and electronic toll collection systems.
The MoU on cooperation between the two countries in the fields of maritime transport and logistics including through sharing of technologies, information and experiences, the training of seafarers, exchange of experts and port operations etc was also signed.
South Korea Monday decided to provide USD 10 billion to India for infrastructure, development of smart cities, railways, power generation and other diversified areas as the two countries agreed to upgrade their bilateral relationship to a “Special Strategic Partnership”.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is here on a mission to woo investors, and South Korean President Park Geun-hye held discussions on a wide range of issues and resolved to add “new substance, speed and content” covering defence, trade and investment, and regional cooperation to take the bilateral ties to a qualitatively higher level.
Addressing a joint press meet with President Park, Modi said, “Korea’s rapid progress has made the vision of an Asian century stronger.”
“We consider Korea a crucial partner in India’s economic modernisation,” said Modi, who arrived here from Mongolia on the last leg of his three-nation tour that also took him to China.
President Park said ties between the two countries have progressed substantially and the two sides were committed to improving business environment.
