|
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Pradeep Bhandari on Wednesday hailed Prime Minister Narendra Modi's international stature and its significance to India's position on the global stage, noting that the conferment of over two dozen state honours on the PM all across the world underscores India's recognition as one of the global leaders.
Bhandari's remark came after Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva conferred PM Modi with Brazil's highest civilian honour, 'The Grand Collar of the National Order of the Southern Cross', during his state visit to the South American nation. PM Modi is currently on a five-nation tour, in the final leg of his visit to Namibia. During his tour, he also visited Ghana, Trinidad and Tobago, Argentina and Brazil. He was also conferred with the highest state honours of Ghana and Trinidad and Tobago, 'The Officer of the Order of the Star of Ghana', by President John Mahama and 'The Order of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago', by President Christine Kangaloo, respectively. Meanwhile, during his visit to Argentina, he was honoured to receive the Key to the City of Buenos Aires from the Chief of the City Government of Buenos Aires, Jorge Macri. "More than 26 state honours conferred on Prime Minister Narendra Modi suggest that there is a global unanimity that India is set to be and is currently one of the leaders of the world," Bhandari said. Bhandari also emphasised PM Modi's leadership at the recent 17th BRICS Summit in Brazil and the global recognition of India's role, particularly in the context of the unanimous condemnation of the Pahalgam terror attack in its joint declaration. He further stated India's position in the Global South, noting that the country was the "most powerful voice". "Under PM Narendra Modi's leadership, India has set an agenda at the BRICS Summit and established that India is ready to lead the world and is the most powerful voice in the Global South... All nations condemning the Pahalgam terror attack at the Summit is a crushing slap to a certain lobby in our country, which was saying that India and Pakistan have been hyphenated," the BJP leader added. Earlier on Monday, leaders of BRICS nations reaffirmed their commitment to combating terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, including the "cross-border movement of terrorists, terrorism financing and safe havens", while condemning the April 22 terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam in the "strongest terms". In the joint declaration at the 17th BRICS summit, the leaders described terrorism as "criminal and unjustifiable", regardless of the motive, and called for ensuring "zero tolerance" for terrorism, rejecting "double standards" in countering terror. "We express strong condemnation of any acts of terrorism as criminal and unjustifiable, regardless of their motivation, whenever, wherever and by whomsoever committed. We condemn in the strongest terms the terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir on 22 April 2025, during which 26 people were killed and many more injured. We reaffirm our commitment to combating terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, including the cross-border movement of terrorists, terrorism financing and safe havens," the declaration stated. BRICS leaders reiterated that terrorism should not be linked with any religion, nationality, civilisation or ethnic group and welcomed the activities of the BRICS Counter-Terrorism Working Group (CTWG) and its five Subgroups, based on the BRICS Counter-Terrorism Strategy, the BRICS Counter-Terrorism Action Plan, and the CTWG position paper. (ANI)
|
