Ideals of Mahatma Gandhi have power to conquer problems of terrorism, climate change: PM Modi in Seoul

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday, February 21 said terrorism and climate change were the biggest challenges being faced by the world and that these can be overcome by implementing the ideals of Mahatma Gandhi who espoused the cause of humanity. Modi, who is on a two day visit in Seoul was speaking while unveiling a bust of Mahatma Gandhi at the Yonsei University.

"Today, the humanity across the world is facing two serious problems- one is terrorism and second is climate change. If we look at the life of Mahatma Gandhi, we can find solutions to both these problems. If we look at his life, ideals and advice he gave, we can path forward," he said.

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"Mankind today is fighting the scourge of terrorism and today it is a sad reality. This is a challenge before mankind. But if we look at the message Gandhiji had given at that time- the message of unity of mankind, human values of achieving our goals to non-violence and the philosophy of winning back hearts of not resorting to violence. We find that he gave stress on the values of mankind and this is the message that can inspire us today to fight against the scourge of terrorism," The Prime Minister said.

His statement came against the backdrop of Pulwama terror attack in which 40 CRPF personnel were killed on February 14. Modi pointed out that Mahatma Gandhi used to say that one's life should be need-based, not greed-based

"During Mahatma Gandhi's era, there were no discussions about climate change, environment and global warming. We see that the life he had, he left no carbon footprint and he talked about leaving a better world for the generations to come. He used to say that we have no right to take away the right of future generations. We should leave a better world they should be able to breathe," Modi said. 

Unveiling the bust of the father of the Nation, the Prime Minister said, " This becomes even more special because we are doing so at a time when we mark the 150th birth anniversary of Bapu."