Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said India is seeing a substantial transformation in the last three-four years and that the focus on the country has grown in an unprecedented manner while the economy has undergone a paradigm shift.
“You must have felt a major transformation in India in the last three-four years. The outlook towards India has changed. The focus on us has increased, perception of the world towards us is also changing. India has come far ahead of that era when the thinking was nothing will change in India,” Modi said while addressing the first PIO-Parliamentarian Conference here.
As many as 124 parliamentarians and 17 Mayors of Indian origin attended the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas.
The Prime Minister said he felt as if a Mini World Parliament of Indian origin was gathered in Delhi. He noted that persons of Indian origin are today Prime Ministers of Mauritius, Portugal and Ireland.
He added that persons of Indian origin have also been heads of state and heads of government in many other countries.
He said he considers the Indian diaspora as India’s permanent Ambassadors spreading the country’s cultural ethos and heritage wherever they settle.
“Whenever I’m on an official tour of a foreign country, I try to meet with the Indians residing there because I believe the Indian diaspora is the permanent ambassador for bilateral relations with countries all over the world,” he added.
He also said his government has taken some far-reaching policy reforms for the growth of Indian the economy due to which the country is witnessing “irreversible change” in the socio-economic set up of the country.
He said it is due to these reforms that the foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows into the country reached $60 billion in 2016-17 and India’s ranking in the ‘Ease of Doing Business’ index has improved to 42.
On the Goods and Services Tax (GST) rollout, Modi said this has enabled the government to eliminate several other taxes.
The Prime Minister also lauded the fact that India is the world’s largest recipient of remittances.
“Today, institutions like the World Bank, IMF and Moody’s are looking at India in a very positive way,” he added.