Banquet Speech by the Prime Minister during his visit to the Kyrgyz Republic

July 12, 2015

Your Excellency, President Almazbek Atambayev,
Distinguished Guests,

Excellency, I am very grateful for your warm welcome and gracious hospitality. I admire your leadership. And this is not just because we have the same birthday!

Mr. President, you have led Kyrgyzstan. with vision on the path of democracy and development.

It is a great pleasure to visit Kyrgyzstan. The supreme beauty of your country and the charm of your capital city is enough of a reason to visit. The Tian Shan Mountains are no less majestic than the Himalaya.

I come here drawn by our timeless links, the goodwill between our people and the importance of our relations today.

The Kyrgyz people have been at the crossroads of the flow of ideas, trade and religion through the ages. They have also faced many challenges with valour and dignity.

Kyrgyzstan's greatest hero Manas means the ideal man in Sanskrit. The Indian epic Ramayana re-written by Saint poet Tulsidas is called Ram Charit Manas.

Through the ages, we have enriched each other by the continuous exchange in diverse forms of human expression.

Now, we have built a modern relationship between sovereign and democratic nations located in the same neighbourhood.

Your journey to parliamentary democracy in the short period since independence has been paved with struggles and challenges. Your success is deeply admired in India.

Mr. President, you have led Kyrgyzstan with vision on the path of democracy and development. You will always find in India solidarity and support for the journey ahead.

So, later today, when I unveil the statue of Mahatma Gandhi on Mahatma Gandhi street today, it will be a tribute to the spirit of peace and democracy of the Kyrgyz people. This will also be a symbol of the values that unite our two people across the forbidding heights of the mountains.

I am delighted that the two Election Commissions will work together. I should warn you, though, that our Election Commission is used to working with numbers that run in multiples of hundred millions!

There are shining examples of our cooperation - in information technology and human resource development, in defence and biomedical research, and in healthcare and pharmaceuticals. Later today I will launch the tele-medicine links with India.

But, for all that we share and we can do together, our cooperation is modest and our engagement has been limited.

We can do so much together to keep our nations safe, our region peaceful and our people on the path to prosperity. We can train and equip our youth to shoulder the responsibility of leading our nations tomorrow. We can do so much more in cultural exchanges and healthcare.

Tourism can be the bridge of understanding and familiarity between our people and expand our economic ties. I am sure that Kyrgyzstan will emerge as an attractive destination for Indian tourists.

Even as we seek to expand relations, we must cherish what is precious in our relationship: our shared values and the spirit of goodwill and affection between our people.

As the Kyrgyz poet BARPI ALIKULOV said:

People living in friendship
Will have wellness and happiness
People living in discord
Will have everything lost.

This reflects India’s own age-old philosophy of Vasudaiva Kutumbakam, or we are all one family.

With these words, may I request you to join me in raising a toast:

To the health and happiness of His Excellency President Almazbek Atambayev.

To the continued success, prosperity, well being and happiness of the people of the Kyrgyz Republic; and

To the deep civilizational links between India and Kyrgyzstan and the continued growth of the India-Kyrgyz partnership.

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