Vice-President M. Venkaiah Naidu on Saturday said the world is very impressed and enthused by the reforms being pursued by the country.
“The entire world is looking towards India,” he said, pointing to how there is a new found enthusiasm about India’s culture, principle of non-violence as well the reforms process being pursued by the Centre and various State governments.
Inaugurating the 2nd edition of Deccan Dialogue, an initiative of Ministry of External Affairs with the Indian School of Business (ISB) aimed at promoting multi-stakeholder conversations on economic diplomacy and India’s external engagement, the Vice-President said Prime Minister Narendra Modi had given a mantra of reform, perform and transform. The purpose was to transform the nation and by that the lives of people, he said, adding such an approach as well as the economic progress achieved had come in for appreciation. There were bound to be “some ups and downs, temporary setbacks” on account of the reforms, Mr. Naidu said, adding the temporary pain, however, is for long-term gain. Multilateral agencies have said India is poised to become the third largest economy if the reform process continued, he said.
Stating that it was heartening to see the interest generated by Deccan Dialogue, the Vice-President said, “The global village we have grown accustomed to is rapidly changing in unprecedented ways. This swiftly changing global geo-political and geo-economic landscape requires individual countries to come up with carefully strategised, dynamic and calibrated responses.”
The older patterns of trade and commerce are in the process of an ongoing paradigm shift – the rules-based, anti-discriminatory and the all-inclusive multilateral trading system centered around the UN, WTO and the international law, is facing an uncertain future. “What we need is reformed multi-lateralism to face the headwinds of protectionist tendencies. We need to bring about the much-needed reforms in international political, financial and business institutions so that they are more representative of the ground realities and adept to respond to new challenges,” he said.
Enhanced regional connectivity, both physical and digital, can boost trade and play a pivotal role in bringing prosperity and development. However, for such initiatives to be successful and sustainable they should be transparent, inclusive and respect the principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity, Mr.Naidu said.
A full house, the inaugural session of the conference on ‘Economic Diplomacy in the Age of Disruption’, was addressed by Union Minister of State for External Affairs V.Muraleedharan, who said the deliberations assumed significance in the context of the country aspiring to become a $5 trillion economy in five years. It was also in line with Prime Minister’s emphasis on enhanced engagement with the States and Union Territories.
Setting the context, ISB Dean Rajendra Srivastava said Deccan Dialogue served a forum to deliberate on a number of issues besides leading and influencing global thinking.
