Pune, Mar 6: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday attributed the success of the “Operation Ganga” to evacuate citizens stranded in war-torn Ukraine to India’s growing influence in the global arena.
“We are evacuating thousands of Indians safely from the war zone through the Operation Ganga,” Modi said after inaugurating the golden jubilee celebration of the Symbiosis University and its Arogyam Dham here.
“It is due to India’s growing influence that it has brought thousands of students from the war zone of Ukraine back to their motherland,” he said. Many big countries are facing difficulties in doing so for their citizens, Modi said.
Amid the escalating crisis in Ukraine, the Indian government, under the ‘Operation Ganga’, has flown 13,700 citizens – who were stuck in war-hit Ukraine – back to safety by special flights that were started last week, the government had said in a statement on Saturday.
On Sunday, addressing students in Pune, Modi said their generation is lucky that it does not have to bear the brunt of a “defensive and dependent psychology”. If the country has seen this change, then the credit goes to the youth of the country, he said.
He said sectors where the country would not have thought of standing on its feet, it is now becoming a global leader in those areas.
The PM also cited the example of mobile and electronic manufacturing and the defence sectors.
“In the area of defence, we had come to believe that we could do anything only on the basis of whatever others gave. But, today things have changed,” he said.
The PM said India is now becoming a defence exporter. Two defence corridors are underway where modern weapons will be manufactured and fulfill the country’s security needs, he added. “India has emerged second in the area of mobile manufacturing. Seven years back, the country only had two mobile manufacturing companies. Today, more than 200 manufacturing units are involved in this,” he said.
From the software industry to health sector, from Artificial Intelligence to automobiles and electric vehicles, from quantum computing to machine learning, new avenues are coming to the fore, he mentioned.
Modi said reforms are taking place in the areas of geo-spatial systems, from drones and semi-conductors to space. These reforms have brought opportunities for the youth. The government in the country trusts the capabilities of the youth, which is why many sectors are liberalised, he said.
The world’s third largest start-up ecosystem is in India, the PM said, adding that the ‘Start-up India’, ‘Stand-up India’, ‘Make in India’ and ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ (initiatives of the government) represent the aspirations of the youth.
“Today’s India is innovating, improving and influencing the world,” he said.
Modi cited the example of how India showed its capability through a vaccine against COVID-19.
The prime minister exhorted the youth to start their own start-ups to find solutions to the challenges faced by the country. He said the solutions to the local challenge should come from universities.