New Delhi: A week before he hosts world leaders at the G-20 summit here, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has asserted that the “Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas” model can be the guiding principle for the welfare of a world shifting from a “GDP-centric approach” to a “human-centric one”.
“Irrespective of the size of the GDP, every voice matters,” Modi told the news agency PTI in an exclusive interview late last week at his Lok Kalyan Marg residence.
“Many positive impacts are coming out of India’s G-20 presidency. Some of them are very close to my heart,” Modi said in the 80-minute interview, focused on G-20 and related issues.
Modi said while it is true G-20 was an influential grouping in terms of its combined economic might, “a GDP-centric view of the world is now changing to a human-centric one”, and just as a new world order was seen after World War II, a new world order is taking shape post-Covid.
“The shift to a human-centric approach has begun globally and we are playing the role of a catalyst. India’s G-20 presidency has also sowed the seeds of confidence in the countries of the so-called Third World,” he said.
“The ‘Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas’ model that has shown the way in India can also be a guiding principle for the welfare of the world,” he said. Mr Modi also spoke of India’s economic progress, its growing stature on the world stage, cyber-security, debt trap, bio-fuel policy, UN reforms, climate change and his vision of what India will be like in 2047.
“For a long time, India was perceived as a nation of over one billion hungry stomachs. But now, India is being seen as a nation of over one billion aspirational minds, more than two billion skilled hands, and hundreds of millions of young people,” Modi said.
“The period till 2047 is a huge opportunity. Indians who are living in this era have a great chance to lay a foundation for growth that will be remembered for the next 1,000 years,” he added.
“By 2047, I am sure that our country will be among the developed countries. Our poor people will comprehensively win the battle against poverty. Health, education and social sector outcomes will be among the best in the world. Corruption, casteism and communalism will have no place in our national life,” he said.
The world, the PM said, had already taken note of “India’s human-centric model of development” in economic growth, technological progress, institutional delivery and social infrastructure. “There was greater awareness of these massive strides being taken by India. It was acknowledged that the country which used to be seen just as a large market had become a part of the solutions to global challenges,” he said.
While answering a question about the global debt crisis — which he noted was “a matter of great concern, especially (for) developing countries” — Modi took a dig at freebies given by some state governments in India, and stressed on the need for financial discipline.
“Populism may give political results in the short term but will extract a great social and economic price in the long term. Those who suffer the consequences the most are often the poorest and the most vulnerable,” he said.
