Speech by the
President of the Republic of India, ……….. Hon’ble Acting Mayor, It is a privilege to be accorded this Civic Reception and to receive the Keys to the City of Kathmandu. I would like to convey my sincerest thanks to you, Hon’ble Mayor, and to your distinguished colleagues in the City Council for this honour bestowed upon me and my country. A key presupposes a lock. But, as you all know, there is no lock on this great and open city of Kathmandu. I, therefore, presume that this is the golden key to the hearts of the people of Kathmandu. Nothing could be more precious than such a key. I believe that it is a symbol of the openness that characterizes the relationship between our two countries. There are no doors or walls between India and Nepal. There is, instead, an open border between us, across which our people move and mingle without let or hindrance. May I say what a joy it is to be in Kathmandu, a city famed as much for its Himalayan setting as for the friendliness of its people; a city with much history in it, the history of national pride and self-confidence – values which we in India prize immeasurably. And may I congratulate you. Mr. Mayor, on the initiatives and accomplishments of the Kathmandu City Council which you head. Local bodies are the foundation of all democratic governance; they are the closest interface between the people and the government. In the old revolutionary days Lenin used to say that Socialism is Soviets plus electricity. Today we could say that democracy is village panchayats and city councils plus electricity and a host of other things – drinking water, housing, food, clothing, wages and above all freedom for the people. I am glad to be told that the City-Council of Kathmandu is dedicated to the provision of these essential needs and facilities to its citizens. The primarily talk of democratic government is to remove poverty and squalor from our cities and villages and to encourage initiative on the part of the people to tackle their problems themselves, of course, with the help of the Government. In my country, India, democracy has gradually broadened and deepened to embrace a three-tier system. There is the national Parliament, and then the legislatures of the States, and below that a system of local self-government consisting of municipal bodies, district and block councils and at the very grass-roots village panchayats. These are all elected bodies with appropriate administrative and financial powers constitutionally devolved to them. I am glad to say that this electoral process and this devolution of power has created a stir at the grass-roots level of Indian democracy. There are about three million elected representatives of the people in these local bodies out of which, as a result of constitutional reservation, one million are women. It is most encouraging and refreshing to see how eagerly and earnestly the ordinary women of India have taken to their democratic responsibilities in these local bodies. We believe that it is these grass-roots institutions that would in the long-run sustain and strengthen parliamentary democracy in India. We are this year observing the fiftieth year of our independence and our democracy. On this occasion we remember with gratitude the support that we received during our freedom struggle from the leaders, and indeed the people of Nepal. I should like to salute the crusaders for democracy such as the late B.P. Koirala, the late Ganesh Man Singh, and the many other leaders of Nepal who actively contributed to our freedom struggle, often at great personal sacrifice, including imprisonment at the hands of the colonial power. India, on her part, had often voiced its support to democracy in Nepal through its leaders like Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru and Jayaprakash Narayan. I am happy to be in Kathmandu and to meet the citizens of this historic city at a time when democracy has blossomed and become vibrant in Nepal. I am particularly happy to have had the opportunity of meeting in person the great leaders of Nepal’s democratic renaissance such as Shri Man Mohan Adhikari, Shri Girija Prasad Koirala, Shri Krishna Prasad Bhattarai and several other younger leaders. I cannot but express my appreciation for the manner in which Nepal has blended its ancient monarchical tradition with modern democratic functioning and is adding to it a social and economic dimension for building up the nation and improving the living standards of its people. In this period of social, economic and political changes Nepal is fortunate to have at its head a constitutional monarch with political wisdom and experience to guide the nation. We are confident that the future of Nepal’s multi-faceted development within a progressive democratic framework is assured. We in India recognize Nepal’s concerns arising from its landlocked status. It will be our endeavour to continue to do what is possible as a responsive neighbour to address those concerns in a positive and sympathetic way. Only four decades ago, Nepal depended on India for 95% of its imports; today this is down to 25%. In fact, as more Indian investment comes in, as Nepal’s basket of manufactured goods increases in size and diversity, and exports take place to the vast Indian market taking advantage of the Indo-Nepal Trade Treaty, as power trade agreements are implemented and power is exported to Indian cities and Indian industries, this dimension of mutual cooperation, overcoming geographical disadvantages will be dominant feature of our bilateral relationship. The city of Kathmandu has played a central role in the cultural and human relations between India and Nepal. Kathmandu has drawn pilgrims and other visitors from India on regular basis for countries. And pilgrims from here have visited India’s great cities such as Kashi and Mathura in the North and Rameswaram in the South. Of course with India’s revolutionary city, Calcutta, as it has been called sometimes, you have had a lively relationship. For centuries, the people of India and Nepal have shared a common spirit, the spirit which seeks concord and understanding, the spirit which believes in "Maitri". This spirit has, of course, not been confined to our two countries; it had gone beyond, to our great neighbour, China, in the north, and indeed to the rest of Asia. Mr. Mayor, a new era of cooperation awaits India and Nepal in the 21st century. I have no doubt that both our countries will enter the coming millennium with confidence, with confidence in ourselves and goodwill towards all. I thank you once again for honour you have bestowed on me today and for the opportunity you have given me to meet face to face the friendly citizens of Kathmandu. |