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PM Narendra Modi’s Star is Rising
The leader of the world’s largest democracy will address a joint session of Congress later this month.
“In granting me this opportunity, you have honored the world’s largest democracy and its 1.25 billion people,” India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi began in his historic June 2016 U.S. Congressional address. “As a representative of the world’s largest democracy, it is indeed a privilege to speak to the leaders of its oldest.”
“Our nations may have been shaped by diverse histories, cultures, and faiths, yet our belief in democracy for our nations and our liberty for our countrymen is common,” Modi told the assembled lawmakers, then-House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) presiding. “The idea that all citizens are created equal is the central pillar of the American Constitution. Our founding fathers too shared the same belief and sought individual liberty for every citizen of India.”
“There were many who doubted India as a newly independent nation. Indeed, wagers were made on our future,” Modi continued. “But the people of India did not waver. Our founders created a modern nation with freedom, democracy, and equality as the essence of its soul, and in doing so they assured that we would continue to celebrate our age-old diversity.”
“Today, across its individuals and institutions, and in its villages and cities, in…