The decisive mandate to Prime Minister Narendra Modi is a call of people for a new India where there is progress for all and the country transforms itself as an engine of global growth, President Ram Nath Kovind said.
He was addressing a banquet in honour of the heads andrepresentatives of foreign governments attending the swearing-in-ceremony atRashtrapati Bhavan on Thursday.
Kovind said the verdict is an affirmation of Modi’svisionary leadership to build a New India, not in a distant future, but hereand now.
“This mandate is a call from our people for an Indiawhere there is progress for all and no one is left behind; an India that is oncourse to eliminating extreme poverty in the coming decade, and to realisingthe potential in every girl-child,” he said.
Kovind said aspirations run high in people of India. Modileads a government that will continue to work selflessly and tirelessly tofulfill these aspirations and enable a life of dignity and respect to ourcitizens, he said.
Kovind said India’s dreams are not for it alone. “As wework for our progress, we remain deeply conscious of the support we draw fromour close friends and our close neighbours. From the warm waters of the IndianOcean to the earnest embrace of the Bay of Bengal and further to the sharedcultural affinities and economic opportunities of Central Asia, our peopleembody similar hopes and aspirations,” he said.Dignitaries attended the banquet includeBangladesh’s President Mohammad Abdul Hamid, Sri Lanka’s President MaithripalaSirisena, Sooronbai Zheenbekov, the President of Kyrgyz Republic and U WinMyint, the President of Myanmar. Mauritius Prime Minister Pravind KumarJugnauth, K P Sharma Oli, the Prime Minister of Nepal; Lotay Tshering, thePrime Minister of the Kingdom of Bhutan and Grisada Boonrach, special envoy of the Prime Minister of the Kingdom ofThailand also attended the banquet.