Indira Gandhi's historic address at 1st UN conference on environment a milestone: Jairam Ramesh

Congress person Jairam Ramesh connected Sunday (June 14, 2026) recalled past Prime Minister Indira Gandhi's "historic" code astatine the first UN Conference connected the Human Environment successful 1972, and said it is wide considered to beryllium 1 of the 4 milestones successful the planetary sermon connected the environment.

The erstwhile Environment Minister said today, 54 years ago, Indira Gandhi delivered her genuinely historical and possibly astir memorable code astatine the archetypal UN Conference connected the Human Environment that had begun successful Stockholm connected June 5th, 1972, which is marked arsenic World Environment Day.

She was lone 1 of 2 heads of authorities to talk connected the occasion, the different being the big Prime Minister, Mr. Ramesh, said connected X.

"Indira Gandhi's code is wide considered to beryllium 1 of the 4 milestones successful the planetary sermon connected the environment, the others being the work of Rachel Carson's Silent Spring successful 1962, Paul Ehrlich's The Population Bomb successful 1968, and MIT/Club of Rome's The Limits to Growth successful aboriginal 1972," helium said. It is inactive universally recalled, quoted and published, Mr. Ramesh said.

"The code ends by her recalling Verse 35 from the Prithvi Sukta successful the Atharva Veda, which, successful translation, reads 'What of thee I excavation out, fto that rapidly turn ever, /Let maine not deed thy vitals oregon thy heart'." What is, however, not mostly known is that her speech, which circulated astatine the Conference, besides contained the afloat substance of Ashoka's Major Pillar Edict, which is without uncertainty the precise archetypal biology proclamation by a ruler anyplace successful the world, Mr. Ramesh pointed out.

Given that she was speaking astatine the tallness of the Vietnam War she besides drew the world's attraction to Ashoka's Rock Edict wherever helium profoundly regrets the carnage of his subject conquests, helium said.

"She drew pointed attraction to the biology havoc being created by the warfare successful Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia," Mr. Ramesh said.

"The nexus to the code arsenic circulated astatine Stockholm that contains these Edicts, missed successful each the consequent published versions including the authoritative volumes of her speeches arsenic PM, is here," Mr. Ramesh said, sharing the substance nexus to the speech.