World looks up to India and South Africa for providing leadership: Swaraj

The world looks up to India and South Africa for providing leadership, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj has said as she recalled the role of iconic leaders Mahatma Gandhi and Nelson Mandela in giving hope to those facing injustice and discrimination.

Swaraj was the keynote speaker at a banquet at the City Hall here marking the 125th anniversary of the day when on June 7, 1893, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, a young lawyer then, was thrown off a train compartment reserved for whites only.

"The world is a better place because of us. The world has much to gain from us. The world looks up to us to provide leadership." she asserted.

She said the two leaders gave hope to the enslaved people of this world, whether under colonialism or apartheid.

"It was in Pietermaritzburg that hopewas redefined by two of the greatest leaders of our times. They gave hope to the developing countries, especially India and African nations, by finally freeing them from the yoke of colonialism.

Pietermaritzburg railway station is where a young Mahatma Gandhi was thrown out of a train compartment. The 1893 incident proved to be a turning point in Gandhi's fight against racial discrimination in South Africa.

"They gave hope to generations to come, by ensuring that our values and principles, which we hold sacred, are forever enshrined in our psyche and in our Constitutions," Swaraj said.

She quoted Mandela when he officially unveiled a statue of Gandhi here 25 years ago, "In his speech, Mandela said 'now more than ever is the time when we have to pay heed to the lessons of Mahatma Gandhi'."