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Last updated: June 23, 2023, 04:55 AM IST
Washington DC, USA (USA)
Prime Minister Modi addresses a joint meeting of the US Congress as US Vice President Kamala Harris and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy listen behind him in Washington.
Addressing the joint meeting of the US Congress for the second time, Modi said that the world order is based on respect for the principles of the UN Charter.
In a veiled attack on China, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said Thursday that “dark clouds of coercion and confrontation” were hanging over the Indo-Pacific region.
Addressing the joint meeting of the US Congress for the second time, Modi said that the world order is based on respect for the principles of the United Nations Charter, peaceful resolution of disputes, and respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity.
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“Gloomy clouds of coercion and confrontation are casting shadows over the Indian and Pacific oceans. Amid the protracted stand-off between the armies of India and China in eastern Ladakh, the stability of the region has become one of the central concerns of our partnership,” he said.
The prime minister said a region where all nations, small and large, are free and courageous in their choices, where progress is not stifled by an impossible burden of debt, where connectivity is not tapped for strategic purposes, where all nations are lifted by the rising tide of common prosperity.
His remarks came amid the economic crisis in countries like Sri Lanka and Pakistan where China has made huge investments in infrastructure that are not viable.
“We share the vision of a free, open and inclusive Pacific, connected by safe seas, defined by international law, free from hegemony and anchored by the centrality of ASEAN,” Modi said.
“Our vision does not seek containment or exclusion, but rather seeks to build a cooperative region in which peace and prosperity prevail. We work through regional institutions and with our partners from within and outside the region. Among this, the Quartet has emerged as a major force beneficial to the region.
Modi told US lawmakers that the past few years have seen very turbulent developments. With the conflict in Ukraine, the war has returned to Europe. It causes great pain in the area. Since it involves major powers, the consequences are dire.”
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Countries in the Global South have been particularly affected. The Prime Minister said that the world order is based on respect for the principles of the United Nations Charter, the peaceful resolution of disputes, and respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity.
He added, “As I have said directly and publicly, this is not an era of war.”
But he said it was dialogue and diplomacy. “We must all do what we can to stop the bloodshed and human suffering,” he said.
(This story was not edited by the News18 staff and was published from a syndicated news agency feed – PTI)
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