'India to be a major manufacturing hub by 2025, will emerge as $5 tn economy': Jaishankar

External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar on Friday, December 30, predicted that by 2025, India will become a significant manufacturing hub and will emerge as a $5 trillion economy. 

The statement by Jaishankar came while he was speaking at a business event in Nicosia, Cyprus, where he is on a three-day visit as India and Cyprus celebrate 60 years of diplomatic relations.

The External Affairs Minister further said that “India is getting increasingly prominent in the global economy. Trade policies reforms channelled by PM Narendra Modi government's economic vision contributed to India becoming one of the strongest destinations for foreign direct investment.”

“India was one of the largest global hubs for vaccine production during the pandemic, and supplied vaccines to 100 nations. Our motto for the G20 is "World as One Family," which is something we put into reality throughout the pandemic years,” Dr. Jaishankar said. 

Speaking on Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), EAM Jaishankar said, “We are receiving the highest FDI flows in our history. Last year, we received $81 billion as FDI. Our trade has expanded substantially. For the year 2021-22, for the first time our exports crossed $400 billion and this year we have set a target of $470 billion.''

The External Affairs Minister further stated, “India has become home to one of the world's largest startup ecosystems. We host close to 100 unicorns now. In fact, we have the third largest number of unicorns currently.” 

'India is a trusted partner in global supply chain': Dr. Jaishankar

External Affairs Minister Dr. S Jaishankar emphasised on the fact that India is a trusted partner in the current global supply chain and for the sake of promoting commerce and business, the country is negotiating a free trade agreement with the European Union. “We completed two agreements with Australia and the UAE this year,” he said. 

Jaishankar addressed the issue of Climate Change and asserted that “India is 100% committed to tackling the issue of climate change. One of the big initiatives we're currently working on is to advocate a change of lifestyle. We want to use the G20 presidency to advance it. PM Modi feels that it will make a huge difference to the environment,” ANI quoted Dr. Jaishankar as saying. 

Image: ANI