'Bharat bahut sundar desh hai': Croatian students speak Hindi to welcome PM Modi

In a historic first, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's maiden visit to Croatia has stirred heartfelt celebrations among both the Indian diaspora and local Croatian citizens — including Hindi speaking students, who warmly welcomed him in the Indian language.

Elizabeth, a Croatian student from the Department of Indology at the University of Zagreb, expressed her joy, saying, “I am very excited to be here. It will be a great pleasure to meet PM Modi.” Another student added, “PM Modi's visit is a big thing for the entire nation... I like speaking Hindi.” A third student simply affirmed, “India is a wonderful nation, and I would love to visit India.”

The Prime Minister’s visit, part of the final leg of his three-nation tour following stops in Cyprus and Canada for the 51st G7 Summit, has been marked by an outpouring of enthusiasm from the Indian community in Croatia.

Upon his arrival in Zagreb, PM Modi posted on X, “A short while ago, landed in Zagreb, Croatia. This is a special visit, the first ever by an Indian Prime Minister to a valued European partner. I am grateful to Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic for the special gesture of welcoming me at the airport.”

Members of the Indian diaspora gathered in large numbers to greet him. One attendee remarked, “It looks like the entire nation has come here to welcome PM Modi.” He further told ANI, “PM Modi has put India on the path of development... India is on the path to becoming 'Vishwaguru'... It is a matter of honour for us that PM Modi is coming to Croatia.”

Chandrashekhar, a Canadian citizen originally from Mysore and currently holidaying in Croatia, said, “We are very fortunate that PM Modi is here and we get a chance to greet him and show our respect... As Indians, we feel very proud that he is visiting here.”

Yoga Guru Mahamandleshwar Swami Vivek Puri also welcomed the Prime Minister’s presence, saying, “It is important for us that the Prime Minister of India is coming here, especially for us practising Yoga and following Sanatan Dharma, because he started the International Yoga Day. With this day, many people started to understand that Yoga is not just an Indian tradition but a tradition of all humans.”

Highlighting India’s transformation, Swami Vivek Puri added, “This visit is a great opportunity to show that India is not a poor or dirty country, and that India, in fact, is a great country. India is changing. India is laying out so many kilometres of highways per day. That is something that people in Europe, especially Croatia, need to know.”

Ajitananda Das Brahmachari, who has lived in India since 2012 and considers it his second home, shared his excitement: “We feel very privileged to welcome PM Modi. There are so many similarities between Croatian and Indian people... The whole diaspora is welcoming him wholeheartedly.”

PM Modi’s visit marks the first ever by an Indian Prime Minister to Croatia, underlining the growing strength of Indo-Croatian ties. He is scheduled to hold bilateral discussions with Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic and meet with President Zoran Milanovic.