India today envisions itself as a developed country by 2047, the 100th year of its Independence, and dreams of digitising its most remote villages and landing on the moon, perhaps even digitising it, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Saturday.
Speaking at a special ‘India@75' Showcasing India-UN Partnership in Action' event here, he said India's development rests on an expansive digital public infrastructure designed to promote that "no one is left behind”.
“In the 18th century, India accounted for about a quarter of the global GDP. By the middle of 20th, colonialism ensured that we were one of the poorest nations of the world. That was our state when we became a founding member of the United Nations,” Jaishankar said.
The event was organised by the Government of India and United Nations to highlight India's partnership with the UN, its South-South Cooperation, its development journey and achievements in the 75th year of its independence.
It was held on the margins of the high-level UN General Assembly session and attended by dignitaries from the UN including President of the 77th session of UN General Assembly Csaba Korosi, UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed, Maldives Foreign Minister Abdulla Shahid and UNDP Administrator Achim Steiner.
Jaishankar said in the 75th year of its independence, India stands “before you, proudly, as the fifth biggest economy of the world and is still rising as the strongest, most enthusiastic and definitely the most argumentative democracy.”