Brisbane [Australia], November 3 : External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Sunday said that he believes that India, in the last ten years, had made significant progress under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi while addressing the Indian diaspora at the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia.
The EAM attributed this progress to a series of interconnected efforts aimed at enhancing business conditions, improving the quality of life, and radically transforming the nation's infrastructure.
Jaishankar elaborated on the initiatives that have contributed to this transformation, including the ambitious Gati Shakti program, which focuses on comprehensive infrastructure development.
He highlighted the establishment of a robust digital public infrastructure that has significantly improved the overall quality of governance and ensured political stability.
"In the last 10 years, we believe we have made very significant progress and I would attribute the progress to the fact that we have embarked on a series of efforts that feed into each other, making it much easier to do business in the country, improving the ease of living, radically improving the infrastructure through a program called Gati Shakti, putting in place what has been a remarkably effective digital public infrastructure, improving the quality of governance overall, and ensuring the political stability that allows for decisions taken to be implemented in full and for new decisions to build on earlier ones," Jaishnakr stated.
He pointed out the scale of India's infrastructure advancements, stating that the country is building 28 kilometres of highway and 12-14 kilometres of railway track every day and noted that the number of cities with metro systems has surged from six a decade ago to 21 today, with plans of taking the number to 39.
He pointed out the growth in India's aviation sector, stating that a decade ago there were 75 airports, which had grown to a number of 150, with 1,000 planes on order from the international aviation industries.
"Today's India is building 28 kilometres of highway every day and 12-14 kilometres of railway track every day. We had 6 cities with metros a decade ago and have 21 today, and we are planning an additional 39. A decade ago, we had 75 airports; today we are close to 150 and as a result of all of this, we have about 1,000 planes on order from the international aviation industry," the EAM said.
EAM Jaishanka is on his five-day visit to Australia from November 3 to November 7. During his visit, he would be inaugurating India's 4th consulate in Australia and would also co-chair the 15th Foreign Ministers' Framework Dialogue (FMFD) with Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong in Canberra.