Digitisation of India's manuscripts will curb 'intellectual piracy': PM Modi

New Delhi, Sep 12 (PTI) Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Friday that digitisation of India's ancient manuscripts will curb "intellectual piracy", adding that the information sourced to the country's traditional knowledge system has been copied and patented by others.

Addressing the International Conference on Gyan Bharatam on the theme 'Reclaiming India's Knowledge Legacy through Manuscript Heritage', the prime minister said the exercise is an extension of the country's resolve to forge ahead with the concept of "swadeshi" and "aatmanirbhar Bharat".

India is now proudly presenting before the world its heritage of ancient knowledge preserved in its manuscripts for centuries, he said.

Modi complimented private organisations for working with the government in its goal to digitise these manuscripts spread across the country, and said over 10 lakh of them have been digitised so far.

He said India is working with other countries like Thailand, Vietnam and Mongolia, with whom it has enjoyed cultural ties and which are home to such manuscripts.

This event is witness to the renaissance of India's golden past, he said, asserting that its knowledge tradition is this rich because it rests on the pillars of preservation, innovation, addition and adaptation.

The prime minister said India has the world's largest collection of about one crore manuscripts.

Modi said, "Throughout history, crores of manuscripts were destroyed, but the ones that remain show how devoted our ancestors were to knowledge, science and learning." He said India is a living stream with its cultural identity, consciousness and soul, and its history is not merely about the rise and fall of dynasties.

"India's manuscripts contain footprints of the development journey of the entire humanity," he said. PTI KND KR KSS KSS KSS