Madras, Jan. 2 -- External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Friday said India is one of the very few ancient civilisations in the world that has survived and evolved into a major modern nation-state, giving the country a deep sense of history that most nations do not possess.

Speaking at the launch of IIT Madras Global and the inaugural session of the IIT Madras tech fest Shaastra, Jaishankar said India is among the few ancient civilisations that have survived to become a major modern nation state.

"There are really very few ancient civilisations which have survived to become major modern nation states, and we are one of them. We have a sense of our past, which very few countries have," he said.

He said India's choice of democracy had ...