Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said the day when India will be among the top three global economies is not far, adding that everyone was looking at India in the hope that it will lead the efforts for a new world order.
Inaugurating the three-day Global Maritime India Summit in the national capital on Tuesday, PM Modi said, "In this changing world order, the whole world is looking towards India with new aspirations. The Indian economy is gathering more strength while the world is in the grip of an economic crisis. The day is not far when India will be one of the top three economic powers of the world."
Underlining the importance of the country's maritime sector, PM Modi said, "History bears witness that whenever India's maritime capability has been strong, the country and the world have benefited greatly from it. Taking this as our guiding principle, we have been working in a planned manner for the last 9 years to strengthen this sector."
PM Modi stated further that the maritime industry will be boosted no end once the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor comes to be implemented.
"Recently, during the G20 Summit, a historic consensus was reached on forming an India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor. This is a huge step at India's initiative, which could potentially rejuvenate the maritime industry across the world in the 21st century," PM Modi said.
He also laid the foundation stone for projects worth Rs 18,800 crore.
He laid the foundation stone for the Tuna Tekra all-weather deep draft terminal, which is to come up at a cost of more than Rs. 4,500 crore at Deendayal Port Authority in Gujarat. The state-of-the-art greenfield terminal will be developed on the public-private partnership (PPP) model.
He also unveiled the 'Amrit Kaal Vision 2047' for the Indian maritime blue economy.
The summit is the biggest Maritime Event hosted in the country. The first Maritime India summit was held in 2016 in Mumbai while the second was held virtually in 2021.
The third summit will be held from October 17 to 19 at MMRDA Grounds in Mumbai.
The three-day summit will discuss and deliberate key issues of the maritime sector including ports of the future; decarbonisation; coastal shipping and inland water transportation; shipbuilding; repair and recycling; finance, insurance & arbitration; maritime clusters; innovation & technology; maritime safety and security, and maritime tourism, among others.
The summit will also provide a platform for attracting investment in the maritime sector of the country.
(ANI)