Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday took leadership in highlighting the problem of climate change and global warming at his maiden plenary address at the World Economic Forum in Davos, as one the three most dangerous problems the world is facing. Narendra Modi further also took the stage to tell the world what steps India has taken to peotect the environment. “Everyone says that carbon emissions must reduce but how many nations actually step forward to help others in this pursuit,” he asked.
“We must think that whether our greed for development has taken us forward or has it caused our destruction,” he added. He said that India is committed to achieve the 175 gigawatt of renewable energy by 2022 and so far has achived one-third of target. The Prime Minister said that terrorism and protectionism are two other big threats that the world is facing today. Swiss President Alain Berset, too, pitched for openess and social inclusion in his welcome address to the summit before Narendra Modi’s speech.
Addressing the session, Narendra Modi endorsed technology-driven transformation that is influencing our lives, saying that in present days data is a very big wealth. He said that there is a race to control mountains of data. “Whoever controls data will have absolute power in the world,” the Prime Minister said.
“Technology has the ability to bend, break, link and a a very good example is in the use of social media. Today whoever controls data is being seen as the one who can control the future,” he added.
Narendra Modi on Tuesday made his debut at the summit as the Prime Minister for after a gap of nearly two decades, this is not the first time when he is becoming a part of the WEF. He had been there in 2007 as Gujarat’s chief minister, then, selling the state as a special economic zone, however, at another summit called the annual meeting of Champions. The summit has come at a time when the Narendra Modi government has agrresively pushed some structural reforms, including ‘Make In India’ and jumped 30 ranks on World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business.
The summit also coincides with government’s massive push for Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) in various areas. At the plenary session, Narendra Modi will talk about steps taken to a make it easier to do business in India and project the as an open economy which is ready for investments from across the world. Last night, the Prime Minister adressed a roundtable attended by 40 CEOs of global companies and 20 from India.
The World Economic Forum has praised India for its bold structural reforms and initiatives taken to position itself a global leader. “The remarkable pace of bold and structural reforms have boosted the macroeconomic fundamentals and enhanced India’s long-term economic outlook,” the WEF said, adding that India is expanding its leadership in a wide range of global initiatives.
“Its leading role in the Paris climate agreement and International Solar Alliance, and efforts to become a permanent member of the UN Security Council and the Nuclear Suppliers Group demonstrate a quest for a more pivotal role in global geopolitics,” it added.
