Obama says told Modi privately religious tolerance was vital for India

New Delhi, Dec 1: Former US president Barack Obama on Friday disclosed he raised the issue of diversity and religious tolerance ‘’privately ‘’ with Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his 2015 visit to India.

'A country should not be divided on sectarian lines and that is something I have told Prime Minister Modi in person as well as to people in the US,’’ Mr Obama said.
He, however, said Mr Modi firmly believed that unity was necessary for the progress of the country.
'My goal here is not to disclose every private conversation I have. I think his impulses are to recognise Indian unity. I think he (Modi) firmly believes unity is necessary for the progress of the nation,’’ Mr Obama said.
His remarks came at the HT Leadership Sumit during an interaction with journalist Karan Thapar who asked him whether his message on diversity and religious tolerances given on the last day of his 2015 visit to India was meant for the Modi Government.
'It was a message to everyone. I have said the same thing privately to PM Modi. It’s happening across the world due to the changes taking place,’’ he said.
He said the collision of cultures was giving rise to many new issues.
Mr Obama said, 'India needs to cherish and nurture its Muslim population that is integrated and considers itself Indian.'
“Particularly in a country like India, you have such a huge Muslim population that feels integrated. And that is unfortunately not always the case in other countries. That is something that should be cherished and nurtured,’’ he added.
In reply to another question, Mr Obama said citizens should be alert to any politician having a divisive agenda.
'If you see a politician doing things that are questionable, one of the questions you can ask yourself as a citizen is ‘am I encouraging this?’ If communities across India say they won’t fall prey to division, then it will strengthen the hand of politicians who feel that way,' he said. UNI