Observing that the world is moving towards a “new world order”, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said that India’s capability and the country’s role is changing fast, and India, besides being the “mother of democracy”, is a “model of diversity”.
Interacting with members of the Indian community in Paris, Modi announced that an agreement has been reached for use of India’s Unified Payments Interface — or UPI — in France.
Modi also said France has decided to grant long-term five-year visas for students pursuing a masters degree in France.
“I will go after signing the agreement. It is your responsibility to carry it forward,” Modi told the cheering audience. “It (UPI) will be started from the Eiffel Tower. Now Indian tourists would be able to make payments in Rupees, through UPI, at the Eiffel Tower.”
Highlighting India’s changing role in the global order, Modi said: “Today, the world is moving towards a new world order. The capability and the role of India is changing fast. At this time, India is the president of G20. It’s for the first time, in a country’s presidency, that more than 200 meetings are being held across the nation.”
Be it climate change, global supply chain, terrorism, extremism, India’s experience in dealing with every challenge and its efforts are proving helpful to the world, he said.
Highlighting the significance of 25 years of strategic partnership between India and France, Modi said the two countries are tackling many challenges of the 21st century. Therefore, at this crucial time, the importance of the strategic partnership between our countries has increased even more, he said. The Prime Minister said people-to-people connect is the strongest foundation of India-France partnership.
Modi highlighted contribution of the Indian diaspora and called them “rashtradoot [national ambassadors]”, inviting them to invest in India. “Wherever we Indians go, we create a mini-India,” he said.
Highlighting India’s diversity and calling it the country’s strength, Modi said, “India is the ‘mother of democracy’ and is also the ‘model of diversity’. This is our great power, our great strength.”
The Prime Minister noted that India is home to more than a hundred languages and more than a thousand dialects — more than 32,000 newspapers are published in more than hundred languages every day in the country and more than 900 channels broadcast news in these languages.
During his speech, Modi also mentioned French footballer Kylian Mbappé and stated that there are more fans of Mbappé in India than in France. “My attachment to France is quite old, and I can never forget it. Around 40 years ago, a cultural centre of France was started in Ahmedabad, and the first member of that centre is today talking to you,” he said.
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