Colonial Mindset Still Alive; Obstructing Growth Of Developing Countries: PM Modi

"The colonial mindset is a massive impediment in strengthening the national resolve that was born in the freedom movement" said PM Modi in New Delhi yesterday.

The Prime Minister was addressing a Constitution Day event organised by the Supreme Court.

PM Modi said a colonial mindset still exists and such forces are putting obstacles in the path of growth of the developing nations.

"It is unfortunate that even within our country, development is obstructed by the same psychology (colonial mentality). Sometimes it is done under the garb of 'freedom of expression, sometime under other pretexts. Without understanding our conditions, the aspirations of our youth, benchmarks of other countries are applied on India and development is sought to be halted".

He went on, saying that "the price for this is not paid by the people who do it; but by the mother whose child is unable to study because there is no electricity; by the father who couldn't get his child to hospital in time because of a stalled road construction; by the middle class family which for whom the privileges of a modern life have been made unaffordable in the name of environmentalism".

India is the only country that is on course to achieve the Paris Agreement goals ahead of time and yet, it is being 'lectured' on environmental issues and subjected to numerous pressures by developed nations, which still harbour a colonial mentality, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Friday.

This is the first time that the prime minister has spoken on the issue since the United Nations' COP26 summit concluded on November 13.

He said the latest example of this mentality was seen at the recently concluded international climate conference, COP 26, in Glasgow, where the issue of environment was being 'hijacked' by the developed nations.

'We can see these days that attempts are being made to hijack the issue of environment. A few weeks ago, at the COP26 summit, we saw a live example of this. If we talk about the absolute cumulative emissions, since 1850, the developed nations have collectively caused 15 times more emissions than India.

'If we talk about the per capita basis, developed nations have caused 15 per cent more emissions than India. Absolute cumulative emissions of the United States and the European Union together are 11 times more than that of India. Still, India is lectured on environmental conservation,' the prime minister said.

He added that India has lived with nature embedded in its tradition, where god is seen even in plants, where the land is worshipped as the mother, adding that these values are not just confined to books.

PM Modi also highlighted that the country's biodiversity is constantly improving with the population of lions, tigers and dolphins increasing. 'Today, there is a continuous improvement in the biodiversity of India. The numbers of lions, tigers and dolphins are rising, the forest cover is increasing, land degradation is reducing...,'

However, "the hopes of crores are lost in India, a nation trying to grow, due to this colonial mindset", he emphasized.

With inputs from PTI.