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India's Fast Development - A Developed India in 25 years
Abraham  Karammel
Author:Abraham Karammel
Retired US govt employee (Indian)
US Senator Barack Obama’s Berlin speech - An Appeal to the whole World

There will be difference of opinion between countries in the world, between Indians in different states and between members of the same family – this is natural and this have been the case all the time. Now in our age of globalisation, information and communication, there are tools to know each other better and quicker, and solve problems faster and easier. But, all must be prepared to listen to each other and ready to work together, rather than fight each other. One may think, one can preach, but difficult to put that in practice. Difficulty is only with the lack of cooperation and understanding of people. With right perception and cooperation, world’s greatest socio-economic development as in Germany is possible!

It is very unfortunate that few people in India and Pakistan try to fight and kill to settle their differences. People of these countries originally belonged to one of the oldest cultures of the world, with priceless heritage and endless diversity; no other culture in the world can claim this honour. They had the same religion as well. I request people of both these countries read and imbibe the spirit of Mr. Obama’s speech and inspire those with closed minds who will not read or understand, in order to create a better world.

There can be superficial difference of opinion among people of the same heredity; but not deep ones standing intact for decades! It is simply a matter of wrong perceptions and attitudes. It is also a fact that the problems of any county or any group of people cannot be resolved by fighting and killing each other any more. How can people who believe in God, decide to kill? It is the result of superstitions and wrong perceptions! Can anyone bring back a single life lost in the prolonged conflicts in Kashmir, in Iraq, in Palestine, or in Afghanistan? When killings continue, peace drifts farther.

Below are excerpts from the speech (links to full text and full video at the bottom):

“Tonight, I speak to you not as a candidate for President, but as a citizen - a proud citizen of the United States, and a fellow citizen of the world.

I know that I don't look like the Americans who've previously spoken in this great city. The journey that led me here is improbable. My mother was born in the heartland of America, but my father grew up herding goats in Kenya. His father - my grandfather - was a cook, a domestic servant to the British.

……………..

People of the world - look at Berlin!

Look at Berlin, where Germans and Americans learned to work together and trust each other less than three years after facing each other on the field of battle (2nd World War).

The fall of the Berlin Wall brought new hope. But that very closeness has given rise to new dangers - dangers that cannot be contained within the borders of a country or by the distance of an ocean.

…………….

The terrorists of September 11th plotted in Hamburg and trained in Kandahar and Karachi before killing thousands from all over the globe on American soil.

As we speak, cars in Boston and factories in Beijing are melting the ice caps in the Arctic, shrinking coastlines in the Atlantic, and bringing drought to farms from Kansas to Kenya.

Poorly secured nuclear material in the former Soviet Union, or secrets from a scientist in Pakistan could help build a bomb that detonates in Paris. The poppies in Afghanistan become the heroin in Berlin. The poverty and violence in Somalia breeds the terror of tomorrow. The genocide in Darfur shames the conscience of us all.

……………

Yes, there have been differences between America and Europe. No doubt, there will be differences in the future. But the burdens of global citizenship continue to bind us together. A change of leadership in Washington will not lift this burden. In this new century, Americans and Europeans alike will be required to do more - not less. Partnership and cooperation among nations is not a choice; it is the one way, the only way, to protect our common security and advance our common humanity.

That is why the greatest danger of all is to allow new walls to divide us from one another.

The walls between old allies on either side of the Atlantic cannot stand. The walls between the countries with the most and those with the least cannot stand. The walls between races and tribes; natives and immigrants; Christian and Muslim and Jew cannot stand. These now are the walls we must tear down.”

FULL TEXT: Obama's Berlin Speech | The New York Observer

29 min video: YouTube - Barack Obama's speech in Berlin

 
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