New Delhi: India believes in helping others rise, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Tuesday, while hailing the country’s growing role in global innovation.
Emphasising the role of technology in the economy, he added that it should be used effectively for global good.
PM Modi invoked the “power to empower” principle while speaking at the Bloomberg New Economy Forum and said that technology, knowledge and innovation are centres of power and should be used to create new opportunities for millions of people, instead of remaining limited to the strength of a few.
“Whoever possesses knowledge, wealth, and power, how they use it is crucial. The true value of power lies in its purpose, and it’s crucial to understand this philosophy in today’s times… Our thousands of years of tradition have taught us this, and in India, we have demonstrated its application in our governance and work culture,” he said.
Reflecting on how several initiatives taken by India have reshaped the global order, the Prime Minister said: “India is the Mother of Democracy. India has over 100 languages, around 80,000 registered newspapers and publications, and more than 1,000 satellite television channels. In the age of social media, India has more than 500 million YouTube users and over 500 million Instagram users,”
He stressed upon the role of digital power in recent times, saying how the BJP-led government has focused on making mobile data affordable, due to which even a student living in a small town could access knowledge online.
“We are sharing our experience with digital public infrastructure with other countries so that they can develop their own digital systems according to their needs. During the COVID-19 pandemic, we also developed the CoWIN platform, which was open source. These are our continuous efforts to ensure that India’s capabilities open new doors of possibility for other countries as well,” PM Modi said, as reported by News18.
Underscoring India’s commitment to climate change and AI development, he spoke on historic initiatives like the International Solar Alliance (ISA) and expansion of the country’s renewable energy capacity.
Reforms were not a compulsion but a conviction for India, he said, adding: “We do not grow at anyone’s cost. We grow with the world and for the world.”
“In a world full of uncertainties, India offers the confidence of reliability and stability. India’s growth rate in the April-June quarter of this year was 7.8%, and this growth stands on a strong foundation. Today, our foreign exchange reserves exceed $700 billion. Our banking system is the strongest among many countries,” the Prime Minister said.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) raised India’s growth projection to 7% as resilient domestic demand and strong services activity continue to support growth despite elevated oil prices and geopolitical uncertainties.
This revision reflects the stronger-than-anticipated performance of the Indian economy and follows upward adjustments to growth projections by other institutions.
“This decade of the 21st century has brought global challenges like never before. In the last six years, we witnessed a global pandemic. Then, wars broke out in various regions. The very things that once connected the world are now becoming weapons – supply chains, energy, minerals, payments, technology are becoming instruments of pressure and dominance. A major question facing the world today is trust and confidence that supplies will continue when needed,” PM Modi said.
