Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday said the entire world is talking about India's development and added that no one would have bothered to care about India if there was no development
"Today, the entire world is talking about India's development. The world has agreed that the 21st century is going to be Asia's century. Now tell me, who would have bothered to care about India if there was no development here," Prime Minister Modi said amid a rousing reception given to him by the Indian diaspora here.
"Sixty five percent of the population of India is under 35, India is young and will stand on the strength of these youth..India is developing at a fast pace, and every Indian should be proud of it," he added.
Prime Minister Modi further said that India and Ireland have similar history as evident by the similarities in the independence struggle of both nations.
"India and Ireland have a similar history. When Ireland got independence, even India was struggling for its independence. Our values are shared, we have shared heritage," he said.
"For ages, in India, we have been sacrificing for the truth, we have been hearing about it for ages. I heard that in 1920, there was hunger strike in Ireland, and people sacrificed their lives. So you can see how similar our values are," he added.
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He said that India has emerged as a major power in the BRICS
"Earlier, people used to say that in BRICS, B (Brazil), R (Russia) and C (China) are doing fine fine, and used to be apprehensive about I (India). Now, everyone is saying that if there is someone powerful in BRICS then it is I (India)," he said.
The Prime Minister also took a dig at the previous governments for not visiting Ireland in last 60 years. He also apologised to the Indian community there for the short duration of his visit.
Prime Minister Modi arrived here today on the first leg of his two-nation trip to Ireland and United States.
This is the first visit by an Indian Prime Minister to Ireland in 60 years.