Your Excellency Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Prime Minister of India, Honourable Ministers, Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen:
It is indeed a great pleasure once again to welcome you and the members of your distinguished delegation. In you, Mr. Prime Minister, and indeed, in India, we have a great friend. I wish you and your delegation a very pleasant and memorable stay in the Maldives.
The friendship between the Maldives and India is centuries old. In culture, ethnicity and outlook, there are long-standing historical bonds between our peoples.
These bonds have become much stronger in recent times. This became most evident during the 1988 November episode and the months and years that had followed it. But, this has also been the case on every occasion that we have sought your co-operation.
Contact at the top level has played a vital role in promoting understanding and goodwill between our two countries. Your visit to the Maldives, and the discussions that we held earlier today, have clearly paved the way to further consolidating and expanding our close relationship.
Indeed, Mr. Prime Minister, the bilateral ties between India and the Maldives are wide-ranging. The generous assistance that India has been extending to our development efforts is quite substantial.
The Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital and the Faculty of Engineering Technology are not only prominent symbols of our friendship, but are also providing a very valuable input to our human resources development. Today, I look forward to yet another milestone in our joint endeavours, when we shall lay the foundation stone for the new building of the Faculty of Hospitality and Tourism Studies.
The warmth in our official ties is matched by the dynamism in people-to-people contact between our two countries. This, too, has grown in pace and scale in recent years. Hundreds of our youth benefit from your fine educational institutions. Thousands of Indians live and work in this country. Indeed, they make a vital contribution to our economic and social development. Bilateral trade and tourism are rapidly increasing.
An ocean, it is said, brings people together. In the past, the monsoon winds brought friends, merchandise, and profit. Today, the airwaves and satellite signals exchange real time sounds and sights of both our cultures. As you know, Indian films and songs, in particular, are very popular here.
Mr. Prime Minister:
I recall with pleasure the last time I travelled to India, two years ago. During that most enjoyable visit, I had had the privilege of observing, first hand, the positive impact of the great progress being made by India under your sagacious leadership. Indeed, the advances made by India in recent years in the fields of information technology and economic development are particularly noteworthy. It is clearly an advantage to live next door to the largest democracy in the world, that is also an economic powerhouse in the making.
In addition to bilateral co-operation, we look forward to increased collaboration through SAARC. We are living in an age of rapid globalisation, which makes regional co-operation a must. Your personal commitment to the SAARC process,
Mr. Prime Minister, is well-known. The South Asian countries are seeking meaningful progress in deepening political, social, cultural and economic co-operation in the region.
Mr. Prime Minister:
In the wider international arena, too, we have common views on all major issues. Both our countries are committed to the principles of the UN Charter and of international law. We seek a world that dedicates itself to principle rather than power, one that is safe for all states, large and small.
Many of the challenges that the world faces today are transnational. Environmental problems do not begin or end at the border. Terrorism is endangering the peace and stability of many countries. These challenges call for a stronger United Nations, and greater collaboration amongst the nations of the world.
The need for multilateralism is perhaps the strongest in the quest for protecting the global environment. The signs of an ecological crisis are plain to see. Floods, famines, global warming, climate change and coral bleaching, and now the Asian Brown Haze, are all warnings of an impending catastrophe.
As we reaffirmed at the recently concluded World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg, the only way to avert such a tragedy is by cutting down on greenhouse gas emissions, saving the environment and making development sustainable.
In this regard, I hope that the Eighth Conference of the Parties to the Climate Change Convention, to be held in New Delhi next month, will make further headway in mobilising support for the Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. However, the Kyoto Protocol is only a first step. It has to be followed by other vigorous global measures to save humanity from the consequences of global warming and sea-level rise. An effective global partnership is vital for the success of this endeavour.
Mr. Prime Minister:
Your eloquent and inspiring poetry invokes a spirit that is relevant today not just to India, but also to the whole world. You have said, and I quote:
One flame in every heart,
One song on every lip,
One aim in every mind
And one dream in every eye.
End of quotation
Indeed, the peoples of the world have one habitat and one planet. Humankind has one past and one destiny. Now, more than ever, the world needs to work together as one.
May I conclude, Mr. Prime Minister, by expressing our best wishes for the good health of His Excellency Dr. Abdul Kalam, the President of India, as well as for your personal well-being and success.
I wish lasting peace, prosperity and progress to the peoples of our two countries.
Thank you.