A full majority government is a big thing in foreign relations and when a government gets even bigger mandate it increases its confidence, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Thursday.
On his fourth visit to Japan since he assumed office in 2014, Modi spoke at length on the massive electoral mandate he got to come back to power for a second term before an audience of Indian diaspora that kept shouting "modi, Modi, Modi" and cheering him with slogans like "vande mataram" and "bharat mata ki jai".
"To have a full majority government is a big thing in foreign relations. But when that government gets an even bigger mandate, then it is not just uplifting, but also increases its confidence," he said.
"130 core people have formed a "mazboot sarkar"(strong government)," the Prime Minister asserted saying "This mandate is a victory for truth, and for democracy."
Modi reiterated that his government will continue to follow the path of inclusiveness. "Sabka saath, Sabka vikaas (together with all, development for all)," and credited people with adding "sabka vishwas".
"Sabka saath sabka vikas aur usmein logon ne amrit milaya sabka vishwas. We are going ahead with this mantra. India will be made stronger," he said.
Modi asserted that Japan holds an important position in New Delhi's foreign relations and can help India become a USD 5 trillion economy.
When it comes to India's relations with the world, Japan holds an important position. These relations are not from today but dates back to centuries. It has harmony and respect for each other's culture in its foundation....Japan can help India become a USD 5 trillion economy," Modi said.
He said that the relations between the two countries strengthened after World War 2, the foundation of which was laid by Swami Vivekananda, Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore, Mahatma Gandhi, Neta ji Subhash Chandra Bose, Justice Radhabinod Pal, among others.
" Swami Vivekananda, Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore, Mahatma Gandhi, Neta ji Subhash Chandra Bose, Justice Radhabinod Pal, many Indians strengthened India's relationship with Japan. And that's why after World War-2, India and Japan's relationship grew all the more strong," Modi said.
The Indian Prime Minister opined that the relations between New Delhi and Tokyo have further strengthened in the past five years owing to the joint efforts by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and himself.
"After I became PM in 2014 I got an opportunity to strengthen India-Japan friendship, together with my friend PM Shinzo Abe. We took our diplomatic relations beyond the purview of capitals & ambassadors & took them directly among the public," he said.
Modi also spoke on how India is moving ahead with time in terms of technology.
"We managed Cyclone F with minimum damage and world praised that govt machinery, human resource and space technology can be used to perform well. Also, we'll launch Chandrayaan-2 in few months and by 2022 we're planning to launch India's maiden human spaceflight program-Gaganyaan."
The Indian Prime Minister is on a two-day visit to Japan to attend the 14th edition of G20 summit. He will hold numerous bilaterals and pull-asides with world leaders participating in the summit.
( With inputs from ANI )