Washington: America’s 39th President Jimmy Carter died at the age of 100. He was the longest living American President. On Sunday, Carter breathed his last surrounded by his family at his home in Plains, Georgia. He had a unique relationship with India. During his visit to India in 1978, a village in Haryana was named ‘Carterpuri’ in his honour. This village has a special connection with his mother.
Jimmy Carter was considered a friend of India. He was the longest living president in American history. He was the first US President to visit India after the lifting of the Emergency in 1977 and the victory of the Janata Party. While addressing the Indian Parliament, Carter raised his voice against authoritarian rule and praised India for democracy. On January 2, 1978, Carter had said, ‘India’s difficulties, which we often experience ourselves and which are common problems of developing countries, remind us of the work ahead. The path is not to be authoritarian.
Speaking to Members of Parliament, he said, ‘But India’s successes are equally important because they completely refute the theory that a developing country needs an authoritarian or totalitarian government to achieve economic and social progress. We have to accept and also accept the harm to the health of the human spirit that such a regime brings with it.
Carter asked, ‘Is democracy important? Do everyone give importance to human freedom?… India in its strong voice has answered in the affirmative. A voice that the whole world has heard. Something important happened here last March, not because any particular party won or lost, but I think because the largest number of voters on earth chose their leaders freely and intelligently. In this sense, democracy itself was the winner.
According to the Carter Center, on January 3, 1978, Jimmy Carter and his wife Rosalynn Carter traveled to Daulatpur Nasirabad village, located an hour away from New Delhi. He was the third American President to visit India and also the only President to have a personal connection with the country. In fact, his mother Lillian worked here as a health volunteer with the Peace Corps in the late 1960s.
According to the Carter Centre, the visit was so successful that soon afterwards the villagers renamed the place ‘Carterpuri’. Carterpuri falls in Haryana. Carter’s visit left a lasting impression. In 2002, when Jimmy Carter received the Nobel Peace Prize, there was a festive atmosphere in the village. Even today, January 3 is a holiday celebrated in Carterpuri. This visit laid the foundation of a lasting partnership, which has greatly benefited both countries.
Tags: Haryana news, Special Project, US News, world news
FIRST PUBLISHED: December 30, 2024, 11:25 IST
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