Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the Indian community at 'Friends of India' event. Speaking at a high-voltage programme at Moscow's Expocentre, he said India and Russia are emerging as a new power in Central Asia. Below are the highlights:
PM Modi begins his address with "Namaste"
Perhaps in India, for the people who are watching this on TV, this must be a huge surprise
Russian people in such large numbers expressing their love for India is a matter of pride of every Indian
The way Russian artistes presented Indian culture, I want to congratulate all of them
The way they performed, it seemed they were completely captivated.
Heard the chanting of Vedic Mantras here and I am told the singer who recited the Mantras is a very famous pop singer in Russia
A pop singer who can perform those mantras, without a paper in her hand, shows her level of devotion.
Sati Kazanova is a Russian citizen but I am told she was born in a Muslim family. Russian citizen, pop singer, Muslim family and performing Vedic mantras! And she told me she wants to build a Hindu temple in Russia. I congratulate her.
Tomorrow is Christmas, I want extend my wishes
Tomorrow is also Atal Bihari Vajpayee's birthday. And today a poem by him 'Main Geet Naya Gata Hoon' was performed by Russian artists
How vibrant you can make Gujarat's Garba, I saw here today. The way they breathed life in Garba, I feel during next Navratras we can learn from them how to perform Garba.
India and Russia have very old ties. But in Russia, there is such a great effort to learn more about India's culture. This gives unprecedented strength to our ties
I am told there are more than 150 schools of Indian performing arts and it's Russians who run them
Last year on 21 June, the world celebrated International Yoga Day. Today there is an interest for Yoga all over the world.
A woman just gifted me a book she has written on Yoga
There is a 400-year-old India House in Astrakhan
You must have seen Sanskrit has a great impact on the Russian language
They understand duar as door, chai as tea. I was speaking to the governor of Astrakhan, he couldn't understand watermelon but understood tarbooz
If one country has unhesitatingly stood by India, that has always been Russia
When they stood by us in times of war, our soldiers won the day
When superpowers ruled the world, Russia always stood by India
In the global fora, whenever India needed a friend, Russia stood by her and gave strength to her voice
Russians are very attracted to Indian culture but they are yet to come to India in a big way
Russians are the best tourists. I want to urge every Indian to ensure that at least five Russian families visit India every year by their efforts.
The whole world is talking about India's economic progress. IMF, World Bank, Rating agencies--Everybody says India is the fastest growing major economy
India is advancing at a very fast pace. Today, the world sees India as a possible manufacturing hub
At the end of the 20th century, they said 21st century would be Asia's century. But the world couldn't decide who would lead the day. The way things are going, it is clear India will play a key role
And this is not all talk in the air. India has the capacity. India wasn't gold the golden bird for nothing. There must have been something. But colonialism took away a everything. Today it is our responsibility to bring those days back
India has 800 million youth below 35 years which is about 65 per cent of the entire population. The country that is so young, has young dreams
The youth of India have woken up. And the strength of 1.25 crore Indians is that if each one takes a step, India takes 1.25 crore steps ahead
We want to build modern infrastructure in India. We have opened railways for 100 per cent Foreign Direct Investment.
Our railways are the oldest - singing the same old tune doesn't get you anywhere. You have to decide and make the way ahead
India and Japan have agreed to partner for a bullet train project. Japan has agreed to give loan at very low interest rate. This will give employment to many in India.
India and Russia are working on nuclear energy. India and Russia are working together to contribute in solving global warming
For 30 years, India told the world terrorism is an enemy of humanity. At that time, the world didn't listen to us; they thought this is our problem.
But today the antics of terrorists have horrified the world and the world has been forced to listen to India.
India and Russia are emerging as a new power in Central Asia
Earlier they used to talk about European Union and ASEAN. The day is not far when they start talking about Eurasia
And the day is not far when it becomes a stabilising force in the world. I have had extensive discussions with President Putin on this
My trip has been short. But it has been very successful and productive
I am grateful to the Russian government for their hospitality. And also to you for the demonstration of Indian culture and traditions.
