Sharing stage with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the St Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF), Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that India-Russia relations have continuously strengthened over 70 years irrespective of changes in the world.
“India- Russia ties are not utilitarian. There is an underlying trust in our ties and our ties have grown stronger and deeper over time,” he said.
This is the first time that an Indian Prime Minister is attending the SPIEF forum, which is held annually in St Petersburg, Russia’s second largest city and Putin’s hometown. He specially thanked Putin for inviting him to the forum.
Hardselling ‘ease of doing business’ as India’s USP, the Prime Minister also invited global businesses to invest in India, saying its market of 120 crore people provides vast opportunities from agriculture to Defence, while being protected by political stability and a “vibrant” judicial system.
“The sky is the limit in India. You can venture here in any area you want (to do business),” Modi told a global audience in his plenary address at the SPIEF. Putin, who addressed the session before Modi, also spoke of Russia’s attractiveness for investors, pointing out the technological advancements of its youth.
Modi said that his Government’s journey toward developing India is built on investments in infrastructure, agriculture, manufacturing and services. “Fifty cities need metros, 500 cities need solid waste management and drinking water. Besides, India has the world’s second largest railway network. It needs to be expanded, upgraded technologically to make it safer and reliable. The clean India movement has embarked on a programme to clean the 2,500 kilometer long Ganga,” Modi said.
All this provides immense opportunities for investment, he said. In agriculture, he said his emphasis is on “seed to market,” and increasing yield through technological intervention, organic farming and value addition through food processing, he said.
The market is open even for defence manufacturing, tourism, hospitality and medical devices.
“I invite you all. A nation of 1.2 billion people invites the world. The world’s oldest civilisation invites you all,” he said. Describing terrorism as a global menace, Modi urged the world community to block funding, weapons and communication modes of terrorists, in an apparent reference to Pakistan’s support for Kashmiri terrorists.
“The call of time is that we should rise above specific incidents. Terrorism is the enemy of humankind. All should come together to fight terrorism,” Modi said during a discussion at SPIEF.
Modi, while noting that the UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres was present in the gathering, lamented that for 40 years, a resolution is pending before the United Nations regarding definition of terrorism and of those who help terrorists.
“Only lip service has been provided. There has been no discussion, nor any decision,” he said.
The Prime Minister said he was glad that Putin had on Thursday publicly stated that the resolution would be discussed.
In an oblique reference to Pakistan, Modi said terrorists don’t manufacture weapons, but some countries supply guns to them. Similarly, terrorists don’t print currency, but some countries facilitate their financing through money laundering. Terrorists don’t own telecommunications system and social media networks, but some countries help them with that, he said.
“Now we should come out of good terrorism, bad terrorism (debate); my terrorist, your terrorist (syndrome). It is an issue of humankind. That’s how we can fight terrorism,” he said.
He said terrorism has no boundaries and all countries should fight it collectively.
Putin also said that India was facing a serious problem on account of terrorism and it was not an “imaginary thing”.
On India-China relation, Modi said despite a simmering border dispute, New Delhi and Beijing have come together on the BRICS platform to create two financial institutions, one headed by China where India is a partner and one BRICS Bank where the two regional superpowers are collaborators.
Not a single bullet has been fired because of border dispute in the last 40 years, he said.
Modi was responding to a question whether India’s opposition to China’s ‘One Belt One Road’ project reflects deep discord in their relationship.
“The world is increasingly becoming inter-dependent. We believe in ‘Sabka Saath Sabka Vikaas’ (Cooperation of all, development for all). This is not just for the domestic programmes but also for international cooperation. We want to carry everyone along for development,” he said.