"India is the home to all faiths in the world": PM Modi at joint sitting of the US Congress

Washington DC [US], June 23 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday (local time) highlighted "India's unity in diversity," at the historic address to the joint sitting of the US Congress.
"India is the home to all faiths in the world and we celebrate all of them. In India, diversity is a natural way of life, today the world wants to know more and more about India," said PM Modi.
Speaking about Indian diversity, he said, "We have over 2500 political parties...About 20 different parties govern various states of India. We have 22 official languages and thousands of dialects, yet we speak in one voice. Every 100 miles our cuisine changes, from dosa to aloo paratha."
He said that today, the world wants to know more and more about India.
"I see that curiosity in this house, too. We were honoured to receive around 100 members of the US Congress over the last decade. Everyone wants to understand India's development, democracy and diversity," said PM Modi.
He arrived at the US House of Representatives, where he addressed the joint session of the US Congress shortly.
PM Modi said that it is always a great honour to address the US Congress.
"It is an exceptional privilege to do so twice. For this honour, I extend my deepest gratitude to the 1.4 billion people of India. I see that nearly half of you were here in 2016. I can also see the enthusiasm of the old friends and the new friends in the other half," said Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
He said that our era is at a crossroads and he is speaking about the calling for this century.
"Standing here seven Junes ago, when Hamilton swept all the awards, I said that the hesitations of history were behind us. Now, when our era is at a crossroads, I am here to speak about our calling for this century," he said.
PM Modi further highlighted many advances made in AI- Artificial Intelligence.
"In the past few years, there have been many advances in AI- Artificial Intelligence. At the same time, there has been even more momentous development in another AI- America and India," he added.
PM Modi further related battles of patience, persuasion and policy.
"I can relate to the battles of patience, persuasion and policy. I can understand the debate of ideas and ideology. But I am delighted to see you come together to celebrate the bonds between two great democracies - India and the United States," said PM Modi.
Speaking about the active participation of Indian-Americans in US politics, he told that the "Samosa Caucus is the flavour of the house," refering to US Vice President Kamala Harris.
"The foundation of America was inspired by the vision of a nation of equal people...There are millions here who have roots in India, some of them sit proudly in this chamber and there is one behind me. There is one behind me (Kamala Harris) who has made history," he said.
The prime minister said that democracy is one of our sacred and shared values. It has evolved over a long time and taken various forms of system.
"Democracy is one of our sacred and shared values. Throughout history, one thing has been clear, democracy is the spirit that supports equality and dignity. Democracy is the idea that welcomes debate and discourse. Democracy is the culture that gives wings to thought and expression. India is blessed to have such values from time immemorial. India is the mother of democracy," said PM Modi.
He said that India and US have made the test of friendship through the long and widening road that both countries have travelled.
"A lot has changed since I came here 7 summers ago. However, a lot has remained the same, like our commitment to deepen the friendship between India and the US," said PM Modi.
"Last year India celebrated 75 years of independence. Every milestone is important but this one was special. We celebrated a remarkable journey of our 75 years of freedom after thousand years of foreign rule in one form or another. This was not just a celebration of democracy but also of diversity," he added.
PM Modi further stated that the US is the oldest and India is the largest democracy.
" Our partnership augurs well for the future of democracy. Together, we shall give a better future to the world and a better world to the future," he said.
PM Modi also highlighted India's sturdy economic journey. He said, "When I first visited the US as the PM, India was the 10th largest economy in the world. Today, India is the 5th largest economy. And India will be the third-largest economy soon....When India grows the whole world grows."
"Our vision is Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas, Sabka Prayaas. It means, together for everyone's growth, with everyone's trust and everyone's effort. Let me share with you how this vision is translating into action with scale and speed," added PM Modi.