India takes another big leap in tourism! In Gujarat, the 182-meter tall Statue of Unity finds a place in the ‘8 Wonders of SCO’ list, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar announced. The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation aims to promote tourism among member nations and SCO refers to a grouping of eight nations, including Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, India, Pakistan. The statue has featured among 8 top structures located in the above nations.
Dr. S.Jaishankar, External Affairs Minister of the country, highly appreciated the SCO’s efforts towards promoting tourism among member nations and asserted that the statue’s inclusion in the list will “surely serve as an inspiration”.
Jaishankar tweeted, “Appreciated the #SCO’s efforts to promote tourism among member states. The “8 Wonders of SCO”, which includes the #StatueofUnity, will surely serve as an inspiration.”
Statue of Unity
The ‘Statue of Unity’, made up of 70000 metric tonnes of cement, 1900 tonnes of bronze, 1850 tonnes of bronze cladding, and 24500 metric tonnes of steel, the world’s tallest statue, is a monumental tribute to Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, popularly known as the ‘Ironman’ of India. Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, independent India’s first home minister as well as deputy prime minister was instrumental in India’s independence struggle, and then in the integration of over 500 princely states into the Union of India.
In October 2018, PM Narendra Modi inaugurated the Statue of Unity or Sardar Patel’s statue on the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel’s 143rd birth anniversary.
