Modi thanks Bill Gates for his “words of appreciation” for ‘Mann Ki Baat’

INTERNATIONAL DESK: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday expressed his gratitude to Microsoft co-founder and philanthropist Bill Gates for his words of appreciation on his monthly radio address “Mann Ki Baat”.

PM Modi on Monday tweeted: “I thank my friend @BillGates for his words of appreciation. #MannKiBaat reflects the collective spirit of the people of India to make our planet better, something Mr. Gates is also passionate about. The strong resonance with SDGs is highlighted well in the study by @BMGFIndia.”

The tweet was in response to Gates’ post on Saturday, saying, “Mann ki Baat has catalyzed community-led action on sanitation, health, women’s economic empowerment and other issues linked to the Sustainable Development Goals. Congratulations @narendramodi on the 100th episode.”

Indian Americans on Sunday, too, celebrated 100 episodes of PM Modi’s “Mann Ki Baat”.

External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar decided to tune in to the programme live with the diaspora in New Jersey at 1.30 am (local time) on Sunday, hailing it as a platform that has “an emotional connect” between PM Modi and the people of India.

“10 years ago if he had mentioned that at 2.10 at night everyone would be assembling at some place and the foreign minister of India would be with you, listening to the Prime Minister of India, none of you would have believed me,” Jaishankar told members of the diaspora.

“You have to understand that PM Modi’s ‘Mann Ki Baat’ has an enormous impact not because the medium is 100 years old, somewhere there is an emotional connect between PM Modi and the people of India,” Jaishankar noted.

Also participating in the event and jointly listening to Prime Minister Modi were India’s Ambassador to the US, Taranjit Singh Sandhu, and the Consul General of India in New York, Randhir Jaiswal.

The 30-minute programme was also broadcast at the United Nations headquarters in New York, again in the wee hours.

Indian Permanent Mission to UN on Sunday tweeted: “A singular connect! Special moments from the Trusteeship Council at UN Headquarters, New York, where #MannKiAtBaat100 went LIVE, leaving all inspired and motivated.” (ET)