Belgrade, Sep 16: Observing that the Indian parliament has evolved as a democratic forum that listens and responds to diverse concerns, Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu has invoked first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru in the Serbian parliament to highlight the importance of democracy for participatory development.

On the occasion of International Day of Democracy, Naidu on Saturday addressed the special session of the National Assembly of Serbia wherein he recalled the shared vision with which leaders of both the countries played a key role in launching the Non Aligned Movement (NAM).

"Our ties started on a strong foundation of a shared global view of Non-Aligned Movement and we together created a large platform for the third world. The changes in global geo-politics now again give us an opportunity to work together for mutual benefit and for sharing prosperity with others," said Naidu addressing Serbian lawmakers.

Recalling Nehru's 1961 address at Conference of Non-Aligned nations in Belgrade, Naidu said: "His call which rings so true and relevant even today was to build in our own countries societies where freedom is real.

"Freedom is essential, because freedom will give us strength and enable us to build prosperous societies," he said quoting Nehru and added: "We must strive to strengthen our democratic polities and internalize the concepts of freedom, dialogue, inclusion and rule of law in our governance structures."

Giving an detailed account of the growth and consolidation of parliamentary democracy in India, Naidu said the Indian parliament has "evolved as a democratic forum that attentively listens to complex voices from different parts of the vast country and responds to diverse concerns with agility".

The Vice President also had detailed discussions with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and Prime Minister Ana Brnabic on various bilateral and multilateral issues.

He gave a detailed account of India's progress in various fields including an enabling, predictable and reform oriented financial and investment eco-systems offering mutually beneficial partnerships.

Voicing concerns over the menace of terrorism, he called for early finalisation of draft Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism (CCIT).



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Srinagar (PTI): Property worth Rs 1 crore belonging to a notorious drug peddler was on Saturday attached in Jammu and Kashmir's Srinagar, police said.

A double-storey house on eight marlas of land situated at Wantpora Eidgah, belonging to Basit Bilal Dar, a notorious drug peddler, valued at approximately Rs 1 crore, a police spokesperson said.

He said Dar is involved in two cases registered under various sections of the NDPS Act.

During investigation, it was established that the accused had acquired the said property through illicit proceeds generated from drug trafficking activities, the spokesperson said.

Consequently, the property was attached under the provisions of the NDPS Act. The attachment proceedings were conducted in the presence of the two independent witnesses, strictly in accordance with the prescribed legal procedures, he said.

As per the attachment order, the owner has been restrained from selling, leasing, transferring, altering, or creating any third-party interest in the property till further orders, the spokesperson added.