Learnt poverty by selling tea on railway platform: Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his keynote address at the high profile Future Investment Initiative (FII), said that he is not from a 'political family' but has seen poverty first hand, ANI reported.

"My background is not that of any big political family. I have not learnt about poverty from books but I have lived it. I have reached here by selling tea on the railway platform," Modi was quoted as saying during an on-stage discussion at FIII

He believed that the fight against poverty is by empowering the poor. "Today, India has succeeded in eliminating poverty at a faster pace in the world. My way to fight against poverty is to empower the poor. Poor need dignity," he said.

Modi also pressed for United Nations reforms while expressing regret over some "powerful" countries using the global body as a "tool" rather than an "institution" to resolve conflicts.

The Prime Minister also noted that India's tax structure and IPR (Intellectual Property Rights) regime are considered best in the world.

Asking businesses to take advantage of the startup movement, Modi said, India has become the third-largest startup ecosystem in the world and offers the highest return to investors.

"India is focusing on skill development by skilling and re-skilling people and 400 million people would be provided training in the next 3-4 years", he added.

According to the Prime Minister, manpower and talent mobility should be included in the international agreements, which should not be only restricted to goods.

During PM Modi's visit to Riyadh, India and Saudi Arabia launched a Strategic Partnership Council and inked agreements to bolster security cooperation as well as collaboration between defence industries of the two nations.