New Delhi:India will record “high growth rates for a long time” and will focus on its citizens’ “dignity and quality of life”, said Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a speech read out on his behalf at the HT-Mint Asia Leadership Summit in Singapore on Friday.
“A successful and prosperous India will be an engine for the global economy and a force of good for the world.
Because, the ideals of democracy that define our nation also shape the way we engage Asia and the world,” he said as he highlighted the continent’s contribution to global development.
“The confidence and energy of our people and the strong fundamentals of our economy, tells us that India will sustain high growth rates for a long time. Digital revolution and our focus on inclusion and every citizen’s dignity and quality of life gives us the strength of belief and confidence in our future,” he said.
“Asia’s re-emergence and rise are the greatest phenomena of our age of multiple transitions…This moment of flux in Asia provides us all a huge opportunity, indeed a great responsibility, to chart a steady course towards a cooperative, inclusive and peaceful future,” he said.
“Singapore is a strong strategic partner and India’s gateway to Southeast Asia and the greater East. Singapore is also where the currents of seas, trade, thoughts and culture across the vast continent and maritime arc of the Indo-Pacific region meet – a region indispensable to India’s future and to the shape of the 21st century,” he said about the city state which has become an important business partner of India.
The Prime Minister also highlighted the “ancient links” between Singapore and India. “The course of India’s ancient links with the East have run through Singapore—visible in the life, landscape and languages of Singapore’s magnificent diversity.”
Singapore is India’s second largest trading partner among the 10-nation Association of Southeast Asia Nations.
Prime Minister Modi will visit Singapore in June to explore areas of further cooperation and take stock of the progress of their strategic partnership.
Modi also praised the efforts of the Hindustan Times in launching an edition of the Leadership Summit in Singapore and said it has been a “vibrant platform for conversation” between India and the world
