Ansari, while speaking at the Yerevan State University, said India was committed to secularism.
"We have societal difficulties which sometimes lead people to use the self licence for violence. But secularism is one of the basic characteristics of the Constitution of India. And great, great, great majority are committed to that," said Ansari in response to a question on violence linked to religion in India.
Ansari, who is here for a three-day visit, said people of India were also committed to a just society.
"I myself was born in Calcutta (now Kolkata), and spent many years in the city. Amongst its historic features are Armenian churches and other signs of its Armenian inhabitants. Father Michael Chamich's History of Armenia was translated and published in Calcutta in 1827," he noted.
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"More recently, historians like Mesrovb Jacob Seth and George Bournoutian have recorded the Armenian contribution in India to trade and commerce as to various cultural and charitable activities." said Ansari, who was conferred an honorary doctorate by the prestigious university.
He highlighted the influence of Sarmad's free thinking and humanitarianism on Indian freedom movement leader Abul Kalam Azad.
"It is thus evident that well before modern times; the flow of people, trade and ideas was not an unusual occurrence," he said.
Ansari stated that he had a very "productive" visit.
"The older generation in this audience knows and the younger ones have been told that the 20th century was a period of organised insanity characterised by metamyths and megadeaths," he said.
The expectation that the changes in the last decade of the century would bring forth a more harmonious world in which international cooperation in solving global problems would be addressed by peaceful means in conformity with the principles of justice and international law did not materialise, the Vice President said.
He stated that on the contrary, older patterns of thought and practice persisted and aided by newer technologies, resulted in "explosions as well as implosions" in different parts of our world.
Ansari said that the crisis was not just limited to matters strategic and financial as climatic catastrophes and pandemics demonstrated the vulnerability of human existence to forces beyond its control despite the immensity of scientific advances.
"The conclusion is unavoidable that individuals, societies, and the global community as a collective, need to re-think the parameters of their future," he said.
Ansari noted that the first step that needs to be taken was to identify the likely challenges, then assess the impact that scientific and technological advancement would have in resolving them and finally assess their impact on people's lives and patterns of behaviour.
"The devil, as always, is in details. The right to live, universally conceded as a basic human right, implies the right to breathe, to food and water, to health. These, together, necessitate sustainable development and the need to address the totality of challenges of climate change. Alongside are the problems of population, disease, energy and resources," he said.
Ansari stressed that all such challenges can only be addressed through global cooperation in which burden sharing was equitable.
Talking about scientific and technological advances, Ansari said, "The demand for clean energy is growing. Solar and wind are now advancing on an exponential curves. Every two years, for example, solar installation rates are doubling, and photovoltaic-module costs are falling by about 20 per cent."
"Even without the subsidies that governments are phasing out, present costs of solar installations will, by 2022, halve, reducing returns on investments, to less than four years. By 2030, solar power will be able to provide 100 per cent of today's energy needs; by 2035, it will seem almost free -- just as cell-phone calls are today," he said.
"It is not threatening in itself but most societies are already beginning to cope with threats emanating from it. The very benefits of its use in social, financial, industrial and military sectors have, as one strategic thinker has observed, 'revolutionised vulnerabilities'," he said.
Robotics and digital manufacturing were no longer on distant horizon and have implications for countries and economies, Ansari said.
"These changes can create long term downward wage pressure on the present day manufacturing led economies. It will also drive down commodity and energy prices, and could result in destabilisation of some economies," Ansari said.
Ansari asserted that technological developments will have a deep impact on the socio-economic structure of society.
He said it was evident that the countries that have invested in educating their populations, built strong consumer economies, and have democratic institutions that can deal with social change will benefit because their people will have had their basic needs met and can figure out how to take advantage of the advances in technology.
Ansari also met Karekin ll, the supreme head of the Armenian Apostolic Church. He also visited Mother Cathedral and the Cathedral Museum.