“I am really happy to be at Facebook and to connect with you today. If Mark hadn’t done what he did, the world would be very different”, said Mr. Narendra Modi, the Prime Minister of India while addressing the townhall with Mark Zuckerberg.
Zuckerberg started the event by saying that he is impressed by the example PM Modi has set in using social media to communicate with the citizens.
In the chain of substantial foreign visits, Mr. Narendra Modi has recently pitched in his most gripping trip to the United States of America on September 24, 2015. This is his 2nd trip to USA in his tenure as the Prime Minister of India. His major focus is to promote his mission of ‘Make in India’ and ‘Digital India’ and draw potential investments from the conglomerates.
The highlight of the Modi’s US tour is his visit to Silicon Valley and the memorable meeting with Mark Zuckerberg on September 27. In his visit to the Silicon Valley to meet the Magnates, he met and invited Apple’s CEO Tim Cook to set up manufacturing unit in India. He has also met with Tesla Motors’ CEO Elon Musk – the real life ‘Iron Man’ to discuss over energy storage and renewable energy. Google has agreed to provide Wi-Fi at 500 railway stations in India. US based Chip maker Qualcomm has declared to invest $150 million in Indian Start-ups. Huge investments can be expected in series after his magnanimous trip to the USA.
Mark Zuckerberg and Mr. Modi met yesterday to discuss the prospects of technology in India and answered various questions from the public live. The most important highlights said by Modi were –
“Social media can tell govt where it’s going wrong, gives them opportunity for cross correction, this is strength of democracy.”
“India has 600,000 villages and I want to join each of these villages through optical fibre network in the next 5 years.”
“India needs both physical infrastructure & digital infrastructure. I-Ways are as important as highways. “
“Among the big economies of the world today, India is the fastest growing economy.”
“India is a heaven for those wanting to invest”
“FDI from USA has increased by 87% in last 15 months.”
(Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com)
Isn’t it a very proud moment for Indians to have Mr. Narendra Modi as the face of India? After long we have a PM who has set out to pace up India with the rapidly advancing world; who understands the inevitability of technological development in the country to bring out its true potential. No doubt Modi’s foreign visits are fetching unprecedented results with investments coming to India at a new wavelength. There are many who do not agree to the fact due to their political motives or the orthodox views but the truth lies in the fact that Mr. Modi has realized that the actual pathway to pinnacle for India lies in the technical advancement in the country.
Let us not politicise this discussion but if we think rationally, he is going the right way. Here are the reasons why –
At first, where in India we have huge intellectual power and those brains are drained abroad, it is necessary to make India a technical and production hub with huge opportunities so that we can retain our human and intellectual power in our home itself and together revolutionize our growth. This is only possible when India heads for FDIs i.e. Foreign Direct investments over FIIs i.e. Foreign Institutional investments. In this direction Modi has already launched the very popular campaign- ‘Make in India’. Such a strategy will not only retain our manpower, but will provide large employment opportunities, improve our infrastructure and the greatest significance lies in connecting our rural population with the giant driving today’s world – Internet.
“Erika and Esmeralda are award-winning robotics engineers. They are just two of the 4.5 billion people who don’t have access to the internet. Building robots with no internet? Imagine what they’ll build when they are connected” said a post on the page promoting Internet.org platform launched by Facebook.
Facebook’s new experiment to provide free Wi-Fi in rural India and the advertisements that are part of its internet.org platform clearly brings to light the very fact that our rural population, despite being cut off from the mainstream and internet are making wonders. Just imagine the miracles they can do once they are connected to the world and its resources!
The second reason behind Modi’s strong foreign policy is to make India strong in the global lead. Modi promised Indians of a strong foreign policy and powering his oath with action India’s Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi has traversed nearly 26 countries around the Globe with a vision to strengthen Indian relations with the leading world powers. Modi’s visits to various nations has marked our global presence and as he said in his meet with the Faceook CEO, “It’s amazing how perception about India has changed in a very short period of time, we’ve brought in a new level of confidence.”
In a country like India where our national leaders allegedly sacrificed the permanent membership of Security Council of United Nations to China long back just because of our so-called poor infrastructure, we now need to step out to tie up strong relations with leading nations in order to regain the stronghold globally.
Another advantage brought to home by Modi’s foreign visits is the safety and harmony with our neighbours. Modi’s diplomacy has been to visit and befriend the neighbouring nations like Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh, so as to relieve the border tensions and to keep an eye of check on China’s activities in Bhutan. This accord can turn out to be a blessing in our crisis with China or Pakistan. He is focusing on India’s neighbourhood, considering the fact that South Asia will be a powerhouse soon.
On an aggregate, playing geopolitics, international politics and tying strong foreign relations is inevitable for India for its development and safety. Mr. Modi is truly a revolutionary leader but we should not forget that India will draw investments only when it has a clean image. Hence, Modi is required to incur his presence and break his silence on some critical internal issues tainting his own party members, such as Vyapam scam and Lalit Gate which have been buried under the power. He is also answerable for the existing policies – Swachh Bharat Abhiyan and sharp 9:00 a.m. rule for government employees – which once in lime light, now seem to have become dormant again.
Most importantly let us not forget that –
Though Modi is surely the Poster Boy of India and the government, but ultimately it is the Government of India and not Modi’s Government.
The question remains – what is required along with a Strong foreign policy so as to realize the actual development in India.
