After a 'meaningful' visit to Russia and Austria, Prime Minister Narendra Modi flew back home on Thursday, a visit which saw him engage in deliberations with top leadership on ways to expand bilateral cooperation and other global topics.
The Prime Minister who called his visit to Austria "historic and immensely productive", said a new vigour has been added to the friendship between the nations.
He also met with the Indian diaspora in Vienna, where he talked about India's contributions towards peace and prosperity.
Stating that India is working towards being the best, the brightest, achieving the biggest and reaching the highest milestones, the Prime Minister said: "For thousands of years, we have been sharing our knowledge and expertise. We didn't give 'Yuddha' (war), we gave the world 'Buddha'. India always gave peace and prosperity, and therefore India is going to strengthen its role in the 21st century," Modi said.
Here is what the Prime Minister said on his maiden visit to Austria.
1) "This long wait has come to an end on a historic occasion. India and Austria are celebrating 75 years of their friendship," he said, after becoming the first Indian Prime Minister in 40 years to visit Austria.
2) "This is my first visit to Austria. The enthusiasm I can see here is wonderful. After 41 years, an Indian PM has arrived here," he said as the Indian diaspora welcomed him ‘Modi, Modi’ chant.
3) "Geographically, India and Austria are located on two different ends. But there are a lot of similarities between us – democracy connects our two countries. Liberty, equality, pluralism and respect for the rule of law are our shared values," Modi said as he stressed the strong connection between India and Austria.
4) "India and Austria are geographically on two different ends, but we have many similarities. Democracy connects both the countries. Our shared values are liberty, equality, pluralism, and respect for the rule of law. Our societies are multicultural and multilingual. Both countries celebrate diversity, and a big medium to reflect these values are elections," he said, amid 'Modi, Modi' chants.
5) "650 million people exercised their right to vote and despite such a big election, the results of the elections were declared within hours. It is the power of our electoral machinery and democracy," he said on recently-concluded general elections.
6) "After 60 years, a government received the opportunity to serve for the third consecutive term in India. In the post-COVID era, we saw political instability everywhere across the world. It was not easy for governments in most of the countries to survive," he said on being re-elected.
7) "Today, India is growing at the rate of 8%. Today, we are in the 5th position, and soon, we will be in the top 3. I promised the people of my country that I would make India one of the top three economies in the world. We aren't just working to reach the top position, our mission is 2047," he said, while expressing confidence that India will become the third-largest economy shortly.
8) "India could partner with Austrian expertise in green growth and innovation, leveraging its high growth trajectory and globally reputed start-up ecosystem", Modi said.
9) "I have always believed that relations between two countries are not built just by governments; public participation is very important in strengthening relations. That is why I consider the role of all of you important for these relationships," he told the community members.
10) "Around 200 years ago, Sanskrit was taught at Vienna's university. In 1880, with the establishment of an independent chair for Indology, it got more push. Today, I got the opportunity to meet some eminent Indologists, it was quite apparent from their discussions that they had a great interest in India," Modi on Austria's intellectual interest in Indian philosophy, languages and thought.
