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PM showcases his achievements to African leaders, says Africa key for India

Last Updated 23 May 2017, 11:05 IST
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday hard-sold his development agenda to the leaders of the African Development Bank (AfDB) gathered at Mahatma Mandir in Gandhinagar for their 52nd Annual Meet.

“By next year, no village in India will be without electricity. Our Clean Ganga, Renewable Energy, Digital India, Smart Cities, Housing for All and Skill India missions are preparing us for a cleaner, more prosperous, faster growing and modern new India,” Prime Minister told the audience comprising of delegates from 80 African countries.

He went on to list achievements of his government in the last three years, stating that while fiscal deficit, balance of payments deficit and inflation had come down, the GDP growth, forex reserves and public capital investment had been on the rise. He also credited his government for initiating bold reforms of less-cash economy, mobile banking, plugging leaks in subsidy distribution through direct benefit transfer, Jan Dhan Yojana for universal banking and Aadhaar - universal biometric identification system. “I have also launched an initiative to double farmers’ incomes by 2022,” Modi said.

Referring to age-old association between India and Africa on social, cultural and business front, the Prime Minister said that both India and Africa face similar challenges of uplifting farmers, poverty, women empowerment, rural development and infrastructure. “Over the decades our ties have become stronger. After assuming office in 2014, I have made Africa a top priority for India’s foreign and economic policy,” PM said giving statistics of his, President and vice-President’s visits to several African nations.”In last three years, there has been not one African nation that has not been visited by at least one of the Indian minister.”

He went on to add that India would continue to support Africa in achieving key goals in the areas of agriculture, infrastructure, power and industry. Modi quoted training of “solar mamas” - residential training of African women to work on solar panels and circuits – has helped them electrify their community back home as well as empower illiterate or semi-literate women through other skills, like basket making, bee keeping, and kitchen gardening during their stay.

Speaking at the event, Union minister for finance & corporate affairs and defence, Arun Jaitely, said that though the world economy had begun looking up after a prolonged recession, it was facing an increasing possibility of disruption. Citing ‘mixed’ experience on his recent US visit, Jaitely said that though the global economic growth is likely to improve to 3.6% this year, up from 3.5% last year, “there was an increasing possibility of disruption in it owing to the inward looking policies of some of the advanced economies.”
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(Published 23 May 2017, 11:05 IST)

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