Kolkata, November 28: President of India, Ram Nath Kovind has started his four-day visit to eastern and northeastern states. On Tuesday he has reached Bengal Capital Kolkata where a civic reception was hosted for him at famous Netaji Indoor Stadium. During his address in the ceremony, he mentioned how government’s act east policy will benefit Bengal and the importance of people of Bengal for this programme.
“Bengal has been central to our national identity. Our national anthem, Jana Gana Mana, was written on the soil of Bengal by the Nobel Laureate Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore,” he said. “Gurudev Rabindranath, Maharishi Bankim and Netaji Subhas – were instrumental in defining our nationalism. Our freedom came faster because of the energy they gave our people,” he added.
The President said that the Government of India has embarked on an ambitious Act East Policy. This involves building connectivity projects and taking economic initiatives. These will be of mutual benefit to our eastern and Northeastern states as well as to neighboring countries. The people of Bengal are crucial to this programme.
He said that being a border state gives Bengal certain advantages. It also gives it certain responsibilities. Forces of radicalism and extremism, some of them with cross-border linkages, seek to take advantage of our democratic spaces. We must guard against this.