Jakarta [Indonesia], July 7 : Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto on Tuesday described Prime Minister Narendra Modi as a leader he deeply admires, saying he had studied and adopted several of PM Modi's policies.
Speaking at the Indian diaspora event in Jakarta, President Prabowo referred to Indonesia's deep connection with Indian culture and said the country's language draws heavily from Sanskrit.
The Indonesian President, who spoke before PM Modi, said Indonesians must learn from the experience of India and the civilization, its culture are strongly influenced by Indian civilization.
"I don't want to be involved in domestic Indian politics. I'm a friend of all Indians but I want to admit one thing and my close associates and colleagues will testify that I am a great admirer of Narendra Modi ji. I'm not a professional politician. The proof that I'm not a professional politician is I took part in five general elections. I lost four times... Even before I became President, I studied the policies of the Prime Minister (Narendra Modi) and because there are no copyright, I copied many of his policies. But, Prime Minister Modi graciously, allowed me to copy his policies. So I cannot be sued in any court," PM Modi said.
"Indonesians must learn from the experience of India. Our civilization, our culture are strongly influenced by Indian civilization. Our language is around 50% from Sanskrit. Many of our names are Sanskrit names. Therefore, there is this closeness and, we welcome more close cooperation," he added.
President Subianto said he has Indian DNA. "Just before I made my state visit to India, I had a what is called a genome sequencing test. I tested my DNA and I found out I had Indian DNA. And that's why I think every time I hear some music, especially Indian music, I find my body moving," he said.
"My ministers, my generals, they all like to dance, they all like to sing. Maybe most of them have Indian DNA. Most of my ministers, they sing Indian songs very well," he added.
The Indonesian leader lauded India's unity in diversity and peaceful transition of power.
"We are very closely learning from the Indian Election Commission of India and frankly, we see India, a country of 1.4 billion people. Many ethnic groups like us, many different regional languages, but managing so many years of peaceful transition of government in many states and in the union of India itself," he said.
"This is a remarkable achievement. I am also studying this and following the remarkable achievements of India," he added.