Against the backdrop of incidents of violence with communal and casteist overtones, President Pranab Mukherjee today once again emphasised the importance of diversity, saying it is "our lifeblood" and ensures that "we value co-existence, dialogue, mutual understanding and peace".
He made the remarks in the context of India and Africa while addressing a banquet hosted for leaders of 54 African nations who are here for a Summit for which he hailed the "drive" of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
India and Africa understand each other and for both "diversity is our lifeblood" as it "enriches us and makes us even stronger. It ensures that we value co-existence, dialogue, mutual understanding and peace," Mukherjee said.
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"These are perspectives on the human development that India and Africa share, these are perspectives that we can together contribute to the rest of the world for handling conflicts and crises," he added.
These remarks of the President assume significance as these come against the backdrop of certain incidents in the recent times which had communal and casteist overtones, like the Dadri lynching, controversy over beef and burning of a family of Dalits in Haryana.
Mukherjee said the difficult decades of colonial rule and cruel oppression, economic deprivation and racial discrimination may be behind us but the challenges are far from gone and they have changed.
"We have still to overcome poverty and disease, terrorism and drug trafficking, lack of education and training," he said.
He said both India and Africa have stood in days of struggle and "we will stand together in this challenging dawn of development. India is ready to share its democratic experience, its agricultural expertise, its capacity building potential, its healthcare institutions, its peacekeepers with our partners from Africa.
"Once again we are determined that our struggle will be based on principles - the principles of equality and partnership, of mutual benefit, of human dignity. For India and Africa, guided by the vision of Mahatma Gandhi who belonged to both, that is the only path.
