BERLIN, Aug 27: Keen to be part of ‘Clean Ganga’ initiative, Germany has offered to rejuvenate a segment of the river in Uttarakhand by using technology it had employed to clean the Rhine, considered one of the most important waterways in Europe.
In an address to a select group of Indians here, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj referred to the German proposal while appealing the Indian diaspora to whole-heartedly contribute to the “Clean Ganga Mission” as well as ‘Swachh Vidyalaya’ initiative which is aimed at providing a functional toilet in every school toilets.
Swaraj said her German counterpart Frank-Walter Steinmeir placed the proposal to clean Ganga in Uttarakhand during the two-hour-long meeting she had with him in which both the leaders reviewed entire gamut of bilateral ties.
“The German Foreign Minister told me that ‘you call Ganga mother. We cleaned Rhine. Rhine is like father and Ganga is mother’,” she said addressing the gathering last evening.
Exhorting the Indian community to be part of India’s development, she said the country has witnessed “momentous changes” since the NDA government came to power with a clear majority.
“I invite all of you to engage with India and be part of our developmental journey,” she said.
The External Affairs Minister said India’s stature at the world stage has gone up significantly in the last 15 months and gave example of how it had rescued nearly 1,900 foreign nationals from Yemen besides over 4,000 Indians.
She said even the US had requested India to rescue their citizens from the war-torn country which was unprecedented.
“A government with clear majority has come after 30 years. The political pundits had said the coalition government’s will continue for at least 20 years more but they were proved wrong,” Swaraj said. (PTI)
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