Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that Rabindranath Tagore’s vision for the Visva-Bharati University is the basis for the call for a self reliant India, adding that the call was made for the world’s benefit too.
“Rabindranath Tagore called for a ‘swadeshi samaj’. He wanted to see self-reliance in agriculture, commerce and business, art, literature etc. Tagore wanted the entire humanity to benefit from India’s spiritual awakening. The vision for a self-reliant India is also a derivative of this sentiment. The call for a self reliant India is for the world’s benefit too,” he said.
Speaking at the centenary celebrations of Visva-Bharati University in West Bengal’s Santiniketan, he said that the university was a venerable source of constant energy to the country and the ideas originated there were being carried forward by the nation in the international sphere.
“India is the only major country which is moving in the right direction to achieve the targets of the Paris Agreement,” he said.
West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar and Union Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal were also present at the event.
Visva-Bharati University, founded by Rabindranath Tagore in 1921, is the oldest Central University in the country. In May 1951, the university was declared to be a Central University and an Institution of National Importance by an Act of Parliament.
By Hindustan Times
