Modi can’t be ignored

The Prime Minister recalled that he entered the world of politics in the midst of a crisis. In 1991, India was confronted by two challenges on the external front. There was an external payments crisis, coupled with even bigger challenge – the breakdown of the global bipolar order. “As Finance Minister in 1991, I had to worry not only about reducing the fiscal deficit and reviving economic growth, but also about stabilising the rupee and ensuring access to adequate foreign exchange. The latter challenge was rendered particularly acute on account of the shifts in global power balances as a result of developments in the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe,” he said.

Since then, India has faced multiple challenges on the external front. But whether it is dealing with sharp escalations in food and energy prices, or the Asian financial crisis in 1997-98 and the Trans-Atlantic financial crisis in 2008-09, or the rise of China as a global mega-trader and changing power balances in the global and regional trading regimes, “we have managed to protect India’s core economic and foreign policy interests,” he said. This ability to deal with the challenges of globalisation and build new bridges with a range of countries has helped India emerge as a global player, he said.

The Prime Minister underlined that through all the ups and downs in the face of global challenges and despite the burden of past policy mistakes, the economy is on a rising growth trajectory. However, he underscored the point that economic growth, social change and political empowerment have brought in their wake the new aspirations of an entirely new generation of Indians. This has contributed to growing impatience for faster growth and even better quality of life. These aspirations and ambitions are exerting pressures on governments to deliver more, perform better and be more transparent and more efficient. “A Revolution of Rising Expectations is underway and I welcome it,” he declared.

Rejecting the criticism levelled by Modi against the Prevention of Communal Violence Bill, the Prime Minister asserted that it was not an election gimmick. Notwithstanding the vehemence with which the BJP had been opposing the Prevention of Communal Violence Bill, the Prime Minister signalled the need for such a law, which was conceived in the wake of the Gujarat communal holocaust in 2002 and whose importance was reinforced in the backdrop of the recent Muzaffarnagar riots.

The Prime Minister said, “We have seen communal unrest in many parts of India. It is a Bill whose time has come. We can take pride in protecting all members of communities. This Bill takes care of aberrations.”