Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday, October 25, highlighted Germany's decision to increase the skilled Indian workers' visas from 20,000 to 90,000 and said it will give the country's growth a new pace. Speaking at the 18th Asia-Pacific Conference of German Business 2024, PM Modi said India is preparing to meet the demands of a future world. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz was also present during the conference in New Delhi.
“We have made a roadmap of Viksit Bharat in the coming 25 years. I am happy that in this important time, the German cabinet has released the 'Focus on India' document....Germany has decided to increase the visa number for the skilled Indian workforce from 20,000 to 90,000. It will give a new pace to Germany's growth,” PM Modi said.
PM Narendra Modi further said that talent, technology, innovation and infrastructure are the tools that drive India's growth. “India stands on the four strong pillars of democracy, demography, demand and data. Talent, technology, innovation and infrastructure are the tools of India's growth. To drive them all, one strong force is there in India - AI - Aspirational India and Artificial Intelligence - this double power is there in India... India is working on the needs of the future world,” the prime minister said.
PM Modi also added that India is not all about business. He said there are many experiences that capture the essence of India – culture, cuisine and shopping. “If you don't give time to India's culture, cuisine and shopping, you will miss many things,” he said.
“This is the time and correct time to get involved in India's growth story. When India's dynamism and Germany's precision meet, when Germany's engineering and India's innovation meet and when Germany's technology and India's talent meet - it ensures a better future for the world including the Indo-Pacific. You all are in the business world and you have the Mantra of 'When we meet, we mean business'. But, coming to India isn't about business only,” he said.
Speaking of the ongoing conflicts across the world, including the Middle East, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said, “World of the 21st century is something where progress is a question we have to work for. But in a multipolar world, there is no global Policemen, no single watchdog monitoring or common rules and institutions, each and everyone of us is called upon to defend and uphold them. If Russia is to succeed in its illegal brutal war against Ukraine, there would be repercussions far beyond Europe's borders. Such an outcome would endanger global security and prosperity as a whole.”
“The Middle East remains another constant source of tension and a stark reminder of the human cost of division and the world's inability to reach political solutions. The Korean Peninsula, the South and East China Sea all remain flash points of potential conflicts, even though we all hope that these conflicts can be contained. Let us do whatever we can to bring about political solutions to these conflicts. Solutions that are based on international law and the principles of the UN Charter,” he said.
