The President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee in his message on the eve of birthday of Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore, which falls on May 9, 2017, has said: -

"On the occasion of the birth anniversary of Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore, I pay humble tribute to this great creative genius, who authored India’s national anthem and won for Asia its first Nobel Prize in literature.

An intellectual giant, he was fascinated by the idea of interaction between civilizations through the exchange of knowledge about their cultures and literatures. He was the perfect ambassador of our country at a time when little was known about India in the outside world.

Gurudev Tagore set forth a vision of peace and fraternity that continues to have relevance and global appeal. In a world fettered by race, creed and colour, Gurudev Tagore promoted internationalism for a new world order based on diversity, open-mindedness, tolerance and co-existence.

Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore was a great soul, who not only illumined the time he lived in, but continues to remain an inspiration for humanity. Let us use this occasion to draw inspiration from Tagore’s idea of oneness of humanity.”

This release issued at 1300 hrs.