Jimmy Carter, 39th President of the United States, who died at 100 in Georgia shared a unique connection with India where a village in Haryana was renamed in his honour to ‘Carterpuri’ after his visit to the country in 1978.
Carter became the first US leader to visit India after the Emergency and Janata Party’s win in 1977. He addressed the Indian Parliament on January 2, 1978, and upheld democracy and freedom and rejected authoritarianism.
Carter on Indian democracy
“India’s successes decisively refute the theory that a developing country must accept authoritarian or totalitarian rule to achieve economic and social progress,” Carter had said.
He had lauded Indian electoral democracy and said, “The largest electorate on earth freely and wisely choose its leaders at the polls. Democracy itself was the victor”.
The next day, Carter and then-Prime Minister Morarji Desai had signed the Delhi Declaration, bringing the two nations closer and solidifying the ties between India and the US.
Speaking at Rashtrapati Bhavan, the then-US President underlined the shared values of democracy and human rights.
Indian connection
Carter’s connection to India grew stronger during a visit to the village of Daulatpur Nasirabad, near Delhi. Accompanied by his wife, Rosalynn, he received a warm welcome from the villagers, who later renamed their village “Carterpuri” in his honour. The visit by the former US President came just a year after the removal of the Emergency and the victory of the Janata Party.
The bond remained strong over the years, with residents celebrating his Nobel Peace Prize win in 2002 and marking January 3 as a local holiday.
This visit held more than symbolic value. Carter’s mother, Lillian Carter, had served in India as a Peace Corps volunteer in the 1960s, giving his ties to the country a personal touch. The Carter Center later noted that this visit helped build a lasting partnership between India and the US, founded on mutual respect and shared values.
When Carter won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002, the villagers held massive festivities and celebrated his honour.
With the death of Carter, Donald Trump is now the oldest living former US President. Trump served White House Office between 2017 and 2021. He will now return to the office on January 20, 2025. Trump had comfortably defeated Democrat Kamala Harris to win the 2024 presidential election in November.
Carter, who served from 1977 to 1981, was the only president alive who was in office during the 1970s after the death of Gerald Ford in 2006; and, at age 98, he was the oldest living former president.
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