At G20 meet, PM Modi says no better place than Bengaluru to discuss digital economy

BENGALURU: In an address at the G20 Digital Economy Ministerial Meet, held in Bengaluru on Friday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi highlighted India’s digital transformation and its commitment to inclusive digital development.

The event, attended by dignitaries from across the globe, provided a platform for discussing the future of the digital economy. PM Modi extended a warm welcome to the attendees, emphasising Bengaluru’s status as a hub for science, technology, and entrepreneurship, and said, “There is no better place than Bengaluru to discuss the digital economy”.

Prime Minister Modi lauded India’s journey of digitalisation, which began with the launch of the Digital India initiative in 2015. He attributed this transformation to innovation, speedy implementation, and a spirit of inclusion, stating that “the scale, speed, and scope of this transformation is beyond imagination.”

The PM highlighted that there are over 850 million internet users, innovative programmes like Aadhaar, which covers more than 1.3 billion citizens, Jan Dhan bank accounts, Aadhaar, and Mobile (JAM) trinity revolutionising financial inclusion, nearly 10 billion monthly transactions on the UPI instant payment system and over 45 per cent of global real-time payments happening in India.

PM Modi also spoke about the CoWIN portal’s role in the Covid vaccination drive, the Gati Shakti platform for infrastructure and logistics, the Government e-Marketplace (GeM) for transparent procurement, the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) democratising e-commerce, digitised taxation systems promoting transparency and e-governance and upcoming AI-powered language translation platform, Bhashini.

Prime Minister Modi emphasised that India’s diverse landscape makes it an ideal testing ground for scalable, secure, and inclusive solutions that can benefit the entire world. He proudly announced the creation of the India Stack, an online Global Public Digital Goods Repository, to ensure inclusivity, especially for nations in the Global South.

Addressing the international delegates, he expressed his support for creating a G20 virtual Global Digital Public Infrastructure Repository, establishing a Common Framework for Digital Public Infrastructure, and efforts to facilitate cross-country comparison of digital skills. He also welcomed the idea of a Virtual Centre of Excellence on Digital Skilling.

In the light of the global expansion of the digital economy, Prime Minister Modi urged the G20 to focus on developing high-level principles for a secure, trusted, and resilient digital economy to counter emerging security threats and challenges.

Concluding his address, he highlighted the potential for technology to connect the world and foster inclusive and sustainable development. He called for “Conviction, Commitment, Coordination, and Collaboration” to build a global ecosystem of technology-based solutions to address humanity’s challenges.

Prime Minister Modi’s address at the G20 Digital Economy Ministerial Meet underscored India’s commitment to shaping a prosperous and inclusive global digital future through innovation and collaboration. (ANI)