Need to work together to tackle global challenges: PM Modi says at WEF plenary session

NewsBharati    23-Jan-2018
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Davos, January 23: Prime Minister Narendra Modi raised the issue of three gravest threats that world face today- climate change, terrorism and closed economies, while delivering a keynote address at the plenary session of World Economic Forum on Tuesday. PM Modi said that Peace, stability, security face new and serious challenges in word due to fast moving economic and political changes.

The Prime Minister said that India is giving top priority to renewable energy to protect the climate. He said, there are many people who stress on reduction of carbon emissions but how many countries and their leaders are willing to help the developing countries by transferring appropriate technology. 

He further said “Indian culture highlights care and protection of the environment. Father of the nation Mahatma Gandhi always endorsed utilisation based on need, and opposed greed.”

PM Modi said that Indians believe 'We the humans are children of Mother Earth'. "Climate change is huge threat right now, Snow in the Arctic is melting, many islands are sinking or are about to sink," he added.

PM Modi raised the issue of terrorism as the second threat and made a sly dig at Pakistan saying that it's worse when people justify terrorism defining good terrorism and bad terrorism. Expressing pain over radicalization of young kids, he said, "I want to draw your attention to dangerous terrorism, even more so to the false distinction made between good terrorists and bad terrorists."

Modi called ‘closed economies’ as the third biggest challenge. The world needs to realise that globalisation is slowly losing its shine. Many nations are moving away from globalisation, he added.

The Prime Minister also invited the global CEOs for investments in India. "If you want wealth along with wellness, come to India. If you want health along with life's wholeness, come to India. If you want prosperity along with peace, come to India," he said.

In his maiden speech at Davos, Modi compared the changes that occurred between 1997 and today, saying that Euro currency symbol wasn't in use back then and none had any idea about Harry Potter. "Google wasn't launched back then and if anyone searched 'Amazon', they were met with pictures of trees and rivers," he added. In two decades world turned into a complex network, he said.

Earlier, PM Modi said that Davos has always been ahead of its time and its theme for 2018 reiterates the same. He hailed its subject 'Creating a shared future in a fractured world', saying that it aims at bringing stability among different nations.

It was the first speech by an Indian Prime Minister at the World Economic Forum in Davos. Before Modi, Deve Gowda had attended the event in 1997.