India's traditions have stressed on living in harmony with nature: PM

Prime Minister Narendra Modi today said that development can be environment friendly and may not come at the cost of green assets, while asserting that India's traditions long stressed the importance of living in harmony with nature.

Speaking at the plenary session of an event organised at Vigyan Bhavan here on World Environment Day, which India is hosting this year with the theme - 'beat plastic pollution', he said plastic now threatens to become a menace for humanity.

"Plastic pollution is now entering into our food chain. Per capita plastic consumption in India is much lower than many parts of the developed world. Our national mission on cleanliness and 'Swachh Bharat Abhiyan' has a special focus on plastic waste management," he said.

"Our experience shows that development can be environment friendly and it need not come come at the cost of our green assets," he pointed out