NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been film adventuring into the wilderness with British adventurer Bear Grylls in a bid to create awareness about protecting nature and wildlife.
Modi, 68, features in an episode of “Man vs Wild,” to be broadcast on Discovery Channel India on August 12, Grylls announced on Monday in a post on Twitter.
The trailer for the programme shows Modi driving into the Jim Corbett National Park in northern India and later trekking past tall jungle grass with Grylls, inter cut with shots of wildlife including tigers,deer and elephants.
“People across 180 countries will get to see the unknown side of PM Narendra Modi as he ventures into Indian wilderness to create awareness about animal conservation and environmental change,” Grylls wrote on Twitter. In the 45-second trailer, Modi is seen crossing a river in a dinghy with Grylls.
“You are the most important man in India. My job is to keep you alive,” Grylls tells Modi in another scene, in which they appear to be making a wooden spear from material collected from the forest.
“I will keep this with me for you,” Modi tells him.
Modi said he had grown up in nature and that the programme was a chance to showcase India’s rich environment and wildlife, according to a statement by the Discovery Channel.
“For years I have lived among nature, in the mountains and the forests,” Modi said.
“These years have [had] a lasting impact on my life. So when I was asked about a special programme focusing on life beyond politics and that too in the midst of nature, I was both intrigued and inclined to take part in it.”
Grylls, a former member of elite British Army unit the Special Air Service (SAS), has had top leaders and celebrities, such as former US president Barack Obama, tennis legend Roger Federer and US singer Nick Jonas, on his various shows, which test a person’s wilderness survival skills. — dpa
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