India Donates Statue of Gandhi to Hiroshima

The Yomiuri Shimbun

6:00 JST, May 22, 2023

HIROSHIMA — A bust of Mahatma Gandhi, donated by India to the Hiroshima city government, was unveiled on Saturday with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in attendance.

Modi was in Hiroshima for the Group of Seven summit, as India is one of eight non-member countries invited to attend the gathering.

The unveiling ceremony was held in an urban green space near the Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima. Modi pulled back a curtain to reveal the statue, which is about 2.2 meters high and 1.8 meters wide.

The Hiroshima government accepted the donation of the bust through the Indian ambassador to Japan, as Gandhi’s philosophy of nonviolence and civil disobedience is in harmony with the city’s mission to promote a “culture of peace.”

Participants in the ceremony included Hiroshima Mayor Kazumi Matsui and Indian residents of Japan.

“I hope [the statue] will help people get along beyond borders,” Matsui said after the ceremony.