Highlights: What PM Narendra Modi said at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris

Paris, April 10: PM Narendra Modi, who landed in Paris on late Thursday night, addressed the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

Later in the day, he will have a 'naav pe charcha' (chat on boat) with French President Francois Hollande, on a cruise on the La Seine river that flows through Paris. [PM Narendra Modi to have 'naav pe charcha' with French President Francois Hollande]

Here are the highlights of what PM Modi said at UNESCO headquarters in Paris:

• UNESCO will always have a part to play in sustainable development and peace and security.
• We will ensure every citizen of every religion has an equal place.
• The 70th anniversary is a time to look at the experience we have gained.
• Threats are changing from domination by states to destruction by groups.
• I have called for global public action for clean energy. We must do more to harness science for human welfare in the most vulnerable parts of world, especially for health & food security.
• Strength of a nation is determined by joined hands of every citizen & the real progress is measured through empowerment of the weakest.
• Climate change is a pressing global challenge and calls for a collective human action & comprehensive response.
• Culture must connect, not divide our world. Fault lines in our world are shifting from boundaries of nations into the web of our societies & the streets of our cities.
• UNESCO's initiatives to preserve the world's cultural heritage, including in India are inspiring.
• The programme to educate and support the girl child in India is one that is closest to my heart.
• For us science is driven by human development and a safe prosperous future for India.
• We have launched the most ambitious programme to provide skills to our youth and education for every child in the remotest villages.
• Digital connectivity is most exciting thing, Digital India will enable Govt to connect with citizens digitally.
• We shall judge our progress not just by cold statistics of growth, but by the warm glow of belief and hope on human faces.
• We launched the most ambitious program for skill development in remotest villages.
• I recall Mahatma Gandhi's message to UNESCO calling for urgent action to address needs of education to secure lasting peace.
• Through many challenges of our times, & the great progress of this era, the organization has endured and grown. I am conscious of the extraordinary legacy of our relationship from the time of UNESCO's birth.
• We are grateful for UNESCO's support in preservation of our cultural heritage. Our world is and will remain a better place because of the United Nations.
• No organisation serves that cause more than this one.India values the worth of UNESCO and cherishes our partnership.
• This organisation has endured and grown. Our collective goal is to seek a prosperous future for our world in which every nation has a voice, every human has a life of dignity.
• I feel specially privileged to visit this great institution in its 70th anniversary year, says PM Narendra Modi at UNESCO.

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