New Delhi: India has always been a maritime civilization and its ancient scriptures and literature talk about the gifts of the oceans, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Friday (February 11) and emphasised that the security and prosperity of countries is linked to oceans. In his remarks at the ‘One Ocean Summit’, the Prime Minister said India is committed to eliminating single-use plastic and will be happy to join France in launching a global initiative on single-use plastics.
India has always been a maritime civilisation. Our ancient scriptures and literature talk about the gifts of the Oceans including marine life. Today, our security and prosperity are linked to Oceans, PM Modi said in a video message.
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“India supports the French initiative of a High Ambition Coalition on Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction. We hope for a legally binding international treaty this year,” he added.
The Prime Minister said that India’s Indo-Pacific Ocean Initiative contains marine resources as a key pillar.
India is committed to eliminating single-use plastic. India recently undertook a nationwide awareness campaign to clean plastic and other waste from coastal areas. Three hundred thousand young people collected almost 13 tons of plastic waste, he said.
“I have also directed our Navy to contribute 100 ship-days this year to cleaning plastic waste from the seas. India will be happy to join France in launching a global initiative on single-use plastics,” he added.
One Ocean Summit is being organised by France from February 9 to 11 in cooperation with the United Nations and the World Bank.
The objective of the Summit is to mobilise the international community to take tangible action towards preserving and supporting healthy and sustainable ocean ecosystems.
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(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
NDTV – Dettol have been working towards a clean and healthy India since 2014 via Banega Swachh India initiative, which is helmed by Campaign Ambassador Amitabh Bachchan. The campaign aims to highlight the inter-dependency of humans and the environment, and of humans on one another with the focus on One Health, One Planet, One Future – Leaving No One Behind. It stresses on the need to take care of, and consider, everyone’s health in India – especially vulnerable communities – the LGBTQ population, indigenous people, India’s different tribes, ethnic and linguistic minorities, people with disabilities, migrants, geographically remote populations, gender and sexual minorities. In wake of the current COVID-19 pandemic, the need for WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) is reaffirmed as handwashing is one of the ways to prevent Coronavirus infection and other diseases. The campaign will continue to raise awareness on the same along with focussing on the importance of nutrition and healthcare for women and children, fight malnutrition, mental wellbeing, self care, science and health, adolescent health & gender awareness. Along with the health of people, the campaign has realised the need to also take care of the health of the eco-system. Our environment is fragile due to human activity, that is not only over-exploiting available resources, but also generating immense pollution as a result of using and extracting those resources. The imbalance has also led to immense biodiversity loss that has caused one of the biggest threats to human survival – climate change. It has now been described as a “code red for humanity.” The campaign will continue to cover issues like air pollution, waste management, plastic ban, manual scavenging and sanitation workers and menstrual hygiene. Banega Swasth India will also be taking forward the dream of Swasth Bharat, the campaign feels that only a Swachh or clean India where toilets are used and open defecation free (ODF) status achieved as part of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2014, can eradicate diseases like diahorrea and the country can become a Swasth or healthy India.
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