'World sees India as voice of nations left behind in changing global order'

Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Saturday said the world views India as the voice of nations that have been left behind in the changing global order.

Delivering the Rajendra Prasad Memorial Lecture on All India Radio, Birla said India has achieved this honour by reaching out to more than 150 nations during the COVID-19 pandemic with vaccines and other assistance.

"What can be a bigger example of 'Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam' (the whole world is one family) than this. India not only cared for its own people but also reached out to (other) nations in their times of need," he said.

"The world calls it India's vaccine diplomacy but for us it is the principle of 'Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam' that does not differentiate between us and them," he said.

The Speaker said India's G20 Presidency was a testimony to the country's rising stature on the global stage.

"It is the strength of our Indianess that the voice of the nation is heard with seriousness on the world stage. The speciality of India's 'Amrit Kaal' is that the world heeds India's views," Birla said.

"The world believes that India can effectively articulate on the world stage the views of those nations that have been left behind in the changing world order," he said.

Earlier, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had described the 25-year period leading up to the 100th anniversary of India's Independence in 2047 as 'Amrit Kaal'.

Birla said this change in the world's outlook towards India was not an overnight development.

"We have come out of the COVID-19 pandemic. But recall those days when the entire world was in the midst of lockdown. India took every step on every front to tackle the pandemic.

"Indian scientists developed a vaccine on their own. We conducted the world's biggest Covid vaccination drive. India not only administered 200 crore doses of vaccines but also helped more than 150 countries," he said.

He said there was a time when India was facing food shortages.

"But today, our country is creating records in food production. India has also emerged as the fifth largest economy in the world. Be it start-ups, space sector, farm and industrial production or communication and services sector... India is marching ahead in every sector," he said.

"India is becoming self-reliant on the basis of its self-confidence," Birla said, recalling the contribution of India's first president Rajendra Prasad to laying the foundation of nation building.

The Rajendra Prasad Lecture series was started by All India Radio in 1969. Eminent personalities like former president Shankar Dayal Sharma, former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, former vice president M Venkaiah Naidu, doyens of Indian literature such as Hazari Prasad Dwivedi, Mahadevi Verma, Harivansh Rai Bachchan are among those who have delivered this prestigious memorial lecture.