By Diya Kumari
If one still needs a proof – Presidency of the G20 grouping is the evidence that India is on the way to become the guiding light for the world in order to build a peaceful, progressive, and prosperous tomorrow for every living being. Able leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi is now the guiding light not only for India but also for the globe.
While the world is staring at another wave of COVID in China and consequent economic downturn, India stands as the shining star among the top economies. This is because PM Modi had steered the country in the most trying circumstances towards safer shores.
The sheer size, complexity, geographical spread, and diversity of India makes it a challenging task as strenuous as scaling Mount Everest with hands and feet tied. That is why, the country’s rapid economic growth, in fact, the fastest in the world with inflation very much under control, is what the world is looking at with hope for answers as global leaders brainstorm for ideas to tame the frankenstein.
It makes my heart swell with pride, and I also thank my stars, that I am also a tiny part of the ecosystem working with the Prime Minister for translating his thoughts and ideas into concrete actions for all round progress of everyone – ‘sab ka saath, sab ka vikas’. With an economic philosophy rooted in ‘vasudhaiva kutumbakam’ – the world is one family, PM Modi often comes up with simple solutions that the experts somehow pass by.
Conventional economic theorists may often wonder about the effectiveness of the out of the box and off the beaten track interventions suggested by PM Modi, but eventually come around to the point when they see them working on the ground.
Early on into the Prime Ministership, Modi had worked out what he wanted to do – to do things on a scale and shape that was never attempted before, things which showcase the prowess of the Indian scientific and engineering community that is building the modern New India, and an India marching confidently on all fronts.
Just to cite an example, ISRO has been a success – which has been achieved after years of hard work. But what has added to the already successful government’s space exploration organisation is the freedom to perform and freedom to operate given under the new dispensation with the result that this is now soaring high, in terms of reputation as a satellite launcher for the world. And today, ISRO and the rockets it makes are the vehicles that carry satellites of countries around the globe, and thus contributing to the overall progress of the global services sector, in the arena of wireless communications and its various applications.
Yes, India was, and has been a global hub for manufacture of vaccines and pharmaceutical drugs, but it was PM Modi’s push that made the world turn to India in times of trouble – when the pandemic hit. India not only carried out the world’s largest vaccination drives ever for inoculating hundreds of crores of people against COVID virus but also helped several countries with life-saving vaccines.
All this steadfast belief in our scientists and engineers comes from the strong sense of self-belief, pride and confidence stemming out of being a self-built man for PM Modi who rose through the ranks – from a being a ‘karyakarta’ to lead the country as Prime Minister during the tumultuous times.
A strong votary of self-reliance – Aatmanirbharta, his forceful interventions to guide the domestic industry become world beaters are bearing fruit. It is not without reason that global giants in different sectors and industries are looking at India as their manufacturing base. And thanks largely to the economic sagacity of PM Modi that the Indian economy is performing much better than the rest of the world, as per the assessment of different rating agencies and global economists.
If the projections for the immediate future present a far better picture of India, as compared to even nations in the developed West, it only means that India is doing something, or everything right, notwithstanding the criticism of the nay-sayers and perpetual cribbers.
Stress on infrastructure building – of which strengthening and increasing the roads and highways network, power generation, and expanding communications (5G telecom network) – will only be adding to the overall economic activity that will take the economy higher than we are at present stationed.
Today India has become the fifth largest economy in the world that is also growing at the fastest pace, much faster than nations of the developed world as well. India is poised to become the third largest economy according to the consensus among rating agencies, and global economists who see in India a potential to show the world a model of economic growth with a strong focus on people’s welfare. It must be remembered that PM Modi had brushed aside all arguments of costs and capitalist notions of no free lunches when he insisted upon providing free food grains for 80 crore people, the largest welfare programme in the post Covid world.
And, it is not just for economic revival the world leaders look towards PM Modi for. His sagacious advice and persuasive abilities are what the world leaders wish to lean on as the world sits on the brink of a war into which many nations can be sucked in. For sure, at the G-20 meeting at Bali, world leaders hoped that PM Modi’s personal rapport with Russian President Putin would help repair the situation that has added its own pressures on the global economy and is pushing it down.
The added responsibilities on PM Modi’s shoulders are large, but I am fully convinced that if there is anyone who can steer the world away from the path of aggression and onto the path of peace, it is PM Modi, and the world may have just made absolutely the right choice.
Already, Modi has indicated what his immediate task as the person leading G-20 – is to try and persuade reforming the functioning of multilateral agencies – when he highlighted the failure of the global community to reform the multilateral institutions, after the baton was passed to India from Indonesia.
His forceful personality and persuasive powers, coupled with tact and tenacity, are sure the elements needed for achieving this objective in the overall interests of the comity of nations – of global institutions that are efficient in functioning, and that can carry out what they were supposed to in the first place.
As an Indian and as a staunch follower of Prime Minister Modi, I am extremely proud to be allowed to be a part of the delivery mechanism of ideas that power a much-needed transformation in the lives of the people.
Diya Kumari is the Member of Parliament from Rajsamand, Rajasthan. She also works for women empowerment through Princess Diya Kumari Foundation based in Jaipur, India.
Disclaimer: The views expressed are not necessarily those of The South Asian Times
