EAM Jaishankar invokes Mahatma Gandhi's timeless message of peace, unveils his bust in Tokyo

Tokyo: The timeless message of Mahatma Gandhi that solutions do not come from a battlefield and no era should be an era of war is applicable even today when the world is witnessing conflict, polarisation and bloodshed, External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar on Sunday.

Jaishankar’s remarks came as he unveiled a bust of the global Indian icon at Freedom Plaza in Edogawa, Tokyo.

Jaishankar arrived in Japan on Sunday from Laos for a two-day visit for the Quad Foreign Ministers’ meeting. He was received by India’s Ambassador to Japan, Sibi George.

During the event, Jaishankar spoke about Gandhi’s timeless messages.

“I would say today, at a time when we are seeing so much conflict in the world, so much tension, so much polarisation, so much bloodshed, it’s very important that Gandhiji’s message was that solutions do not come from a battlefield, that no era should be an era of war. And that message applies today as much as it did 80 years ago,” Jaishankar said.

“A second message is something which we all think today in terms of sustainability, of climate friendliness, of green growth, green policies. Gandhiji was the original prophet of sustainable growth,” Jaishankar said.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar during the unveiling of Mahatma Gandhi’s bust in Edogawa, Tokyo, Sunday, July 28, 2024.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar during the unveiling of Mahatma Gandhi’s bust in Edogawa, Tokyo, Sunday, July 28, 2024.

Credit: PTI Photo

Gandhiji was the greatest advocate of how to live in harmony with nature, he said.

“So, the message of Gandhiji, that it is not just something for governments to do, but for everybody to do in their personal life, that is something which again we pass on. And of course, Gandhiji was an advocate of inclusiveness and that is what we are seeing in India and across the world today,” he said.

He said Edogawa Ward decided to build a relationship with India by having this wonderful statue of “the father of our nation, Mahatma Gandhi”.

In India, the people think of Gandhi Ji as the father of the nation, he said.

“But for the world, he is actually a global icon. And we have to ask ourselves today, why is it important to have this statue here? And I can think of three reasons. One is that the achievements of Mahatma Gandhi have far outlived his own times, with the passage of time they have got more and more importance.”

Second, the message that Mahatma Gandhi gave through his life and through his work is timeless, he said.

“What he taught us was important then, it is important even now. And three, I was told this is a place, somebody called it Little India, I hope it becomes bigger, but this is a place where the Indian community in Tokyo lives and gathers in large numbers. And I cannot think of a more appropriate occasion and a better way of strengthening bonds between India and Japan than by this event,” Jaishankar said.

He said without Gandhi, India’s independence struggle would perhaps have taken a much longer path or gone in a different direction.

The independence of India actually decolonised the entire world, it was the starting point of a “very momentous event”, he said.

“When India became free, other parts of Asia became free, Africa became free, Latin America became free…Today when we say India is the fifth largest economy in the world, where the world is changing, it is heading towards multipolarity, that when the G7 becomes the G20, in a way, all this was started as a result of what Gandhiji did in history,” he said.