PTI
BERLIN
Modi, who arrived here on the first leg of his six-day, four-nation tour of Germany, Spain, Russia and France, in an interview to German newspaper ‘’Handelsblatt’’ said, “Europe has been hit hard by terrorism”.
“To our mind, terrorism is the gravest challenge facing humanity. Europe must play a lead role in developing an effective global response under the aegis of the United Nations to deal with this menace,” he said.
Modi’s remarks assume significance as they come in the wake of a spate of terror attacks that have struck European countries like Germany, France, the UK and Sweden recently.
The latest terror attack to have rocked Europe was at a concert in Manchester where a suicide bomber blew himself up, killing 22 people.
Modi struck a warning note against moves towards protectionism and called for Europe to ensure that the global economy “remains open for international trade and free flow of investment and people”.
“We do have concerns regarding protectionist and anti-immigrant sentiments. We are hopeful that they will be addressed,” Modi said.
“We live in an interconnected world. Movement of goods, capital and people across borders is essential to our collective progress and to realise the benefits of globalisation,” he said.
Modi stressed the importance of India to Germany, stating that it was as among the “most open” and “fastest growing major economies in the world”.
