Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said India must turn the current coronavirus crisis into an opportunity and reiterated his government’s mission of Atmanirbhar Bharat (self-reliant India). He added that only firm resolve and determination can decide the future.
“We have to make this a major turning point for this nation,” he said as he delivered the inaugural address at the 95th annual plenary session of the Indian Chamber of Commerce. “What is that turning point? A self-reliant India.”
The prime minister said India has been facing other adversities amid these trying times. He listed locust attacks, oil field fire, earthquakes and cyclones as the other challenges amid the coronavirus crisis. “We all have come together to withstand these challenges,” the prime minister added. “Mann ke hare haar, mann ke hare jeet – it means that only our firm resolve and determination can decide our future.”
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Reinforcing the Centre’s Atmanirbhar Bharat campaign, Modi said the country would have to make efforts to ensure that products that we usually import are manufactured in India and eventually exported. He said Swami Vivekananda should be an inspiration for India in post-Covid world. At this time we have to take the Indian economy out of ‘command and control’ and push it towards ‘plug and play,” he added. “This isn’t the time for conservative approach. It’s time for bold decisions and bold investments. It’s time to prepare a globally competitive domestic supply chain.”
With the latest phase of the lockdown, dubbed “Unlock 1”, the Centre is hoping to ease weeks of restrictions in a phased manner. India’s economic growth rate stood at 3.1% for the fourth quarter of 2019-’20, according to data the government released last month. In the October to December 2019 quarter, the country’s economic growth stood at 4.7% – a seven-year low. However, the final figures released for the third quarter showed that India’s GDP grew at 4.1% during October to December last year.
Modi also made several references to Bengal, reported NDTV. “Kolkata can again become a big leader,” he added. “What Bengal thinks today, India thinks tomorrow.”
India is now the fifth most-affected country in the world. India reported 9,996 cases of coronavirus and 357 deaths on Thursday, the highest single-day spikes. With this, the tally rose to 2,86,579 cases and the toll from the disease stood at 8,102. The number of recoveries remained more than the active cases for the second consecutive day.
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