New Delhi: Stressing India’s vast social transformation, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Saturday said that India is poised for an economic recovery of between 7 and 8 per cent. The minister, who was speaking at the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIM-A) in Gujarat, highlighted that the Union government had distributed food to over 800 million people since the lockdown at the beginning of COVID pandemic.
Jaishankar spoke on various aspects in which the country made strides including indigenous production of COVID vaccines. The minister highlighted the way India handled the COVID-19 pandemic and vaccinations, the emergence of digital India, its rise as a renewable energy hub, revival of the Indian economy, the way it brought back its students stranded in Ukraine, and initiatives like Swachh Bharat also contributed to enhancing the country’s image.
Delivering a lecture on “Indian Foreign Policy: A Transformational Decade”, EAM S Jaishankar also mentioned India’s independent stance on the Ukraine war that articulated the sentiments of many other countries.
Economy Poised For Growth
"India’s seen a vast social transformation. We’re today poised for economic recovery of 7-8 per cent. The world looks at our economy with a great deal of respect… 800 million people since lockdown till today receive food from the government so we don’t have more people dying of starvation than disease," S Jaishankar said.
He also mentioned improvement in sanitation saying, "Swacch Bharat and toilet building caught the world’s attention as earlier it was a blot on our image. The fact that we’ve constructed 100 million toilets with a visible improvement in sanitation has actually had a big impact abroad."
India, The Fastest Growing Economies
On Economy, he also asserted: "It is important for the world to understand India correctly….India is the fifth largest economy now and we were the 10th largest economy a decade ago…a digital India, one which comes out of pandemic stronger, which (is) today among fastest growing economies, is a reality", ANI reported.
World 'Noted' India's Independent Stand On Ukraine-Russia Conflict, Response To Border Tension With China
Jaishankar also spoke about the Ukraine-Russia conflict saying: “The fact that we have taken an independent stance, the fact that we have taken decisions that we believe are the right decisions from the perspective of welfare of our people, that is something that the world has noted”.
“How resolute we have been, for example, when we have been challenged in border areas. Two years ago in the midst of a pandemic, the Chinese moved in forces on our border violating agreements. And that we stood our ground, two years in it we are working it out without giving concessions, I think the world has noted that,” Jaishankar further said citing the border tension with China, as quoted by news agency PTI.
The global community saw that India would be "both strong on the ground and vocal in terms of putting out its interests,” he added.
Made In India Responsible For Brand Success
"The fact that we made our own vaccine has really resonated and garnered us respect across the world. Made in India is significantly responsible for upgrading our brand," the External Affairs Minister emphasised.
According to Jaishankar, India has the talent and capability to address “a lot of shortages in a very demographically challenged world,” and it is also a “civilization state which has its heritage, its cultures and its experience to bring in”.
(With Inputs From Agencies)