‘Kaa Haal Baa?’: PM Modi Addresses Indian Diaspora in Netherlands

Prime Minister Modi addressed the gathering of about 3,000 in Hindi.

(Photo courtesy: Twitter)

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the Indian diaspora in the Netherlands on the last leg of his three-nation tour on Wednesday.

Starting his address with “Kaa Haal Baa (how are you?)”, Modi said that it’s extremely important to stay connected to one’s own roots, while the boisterous crowd kept chanting his name.

The colours of our passport may be anything, but our ties are that of blood and are very special. The embassy staff and the officials are called ‘Rajdoots’, but you, the diaspora are the ‘Rashtradoots’.

Narendra Modi, Indian Prime Minister

Notably, the Netherlands has the second-highest population of people of Indian-origin after UK. In his hour-long speech, Modi mostly focused on his government's efforts aimed at women's empowerment.

It’s a myth that Indian women stay at home and take care of families. Today, it’s a different story. Our community does not gauge women’s contribution to the society with money, but women have a huge role to play in India’s economic progress. 

Narendra Modi

He highlighted the diversity existing in India and said it was the country's “speciality” , which puzzled people in other parts of the world. The PM added that his government's thrust has been on jan bhagidari (people's involvement) in governance as he believed that the country's progress cannot be ensured only through the government's work.

He mentioned the various initiatives taken by his government in sectors like banking, energy and digitisation, and talked about progress being made in areas like space, healthcare and sanitation.

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Video Editor: Sandeep Suman