The spirit of non-violence which helped India get independence was the essence of the country's civilisation, President Pranab Mukherjee said Thursday.
Years of British rule could not prevent Indians from rising again. India was today the largest functional democracy in the world, Mukherjee said in an interaction with a group of students from Gulf countries who called on him at Rashtrapati Bhavan.
Mukherjee said the great ancient civilisation of India survived because of the spirit of tolerance and acceptance.
The president appealed to the students to be proud to be Indians. He told them the whole world was theirs and they should be India's ambassadors whichever country they live in.
The students were in Delhi as part of a news channel's programme "Proud to be an Indian".
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