Berlin (Germany): Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who arrived in Germany as part of the first leg of his three-nation Europe trip on Monday, addressed the Indian diaspora later in the day.
"I'm fortunate that I received the opportunity to meet the children of 'Maa Bharti' in Germany. It feels great to meet all of you. Many of you've come here, to Berlin, from different cities in Germany. Today, I'm here to neither talk about myself nor the government. I want to talk to you about the capabilities of crores of Indians and sing their praises. When I speak about crores of Indians, it includes not only the people who live there but also those who live here," he said to a rousing attendance of Indians in Berlin.
The Prime Minister said that foreign rule had "stomped on the self-confidence" of Indians year after year. "There was only one way to compensate for it - pump up self-confidence and pride in every citizen of India once again. For this, it was essential to have faith in the government." he said. Praising his government, Modi said that before 2014, everything would be a "work in progress". "I'm not criticising anyone but if a road was made, then it was dug up for electricity, then for water. To end this, we made PM Gati Shakti master plan to bring all stakeholders to one platform," he said.
"After independence, the country decided a path, a direction. But the numerous changes that should have taken place with time, the speed with which it should have been done, the extensive manner in which it should have been done, we lagged behind due to one or the other reason," the PM said.
New India, the Prime Minister said, doesn't think of a secure future alone. "It takes risks, it innovates, it incubates. I remember that around 2014, our country had only 200-400 startups. Today, the country has more than 68,000 startups. Today, all global parameters say that several dozens of these startups have become unicorns. It's not restricted to unicorns alone, today I can proudly say that numerous unicorns in my country are becoming decacons too. It means they are crossing the level of USD 10 Billion," he said.
The PM also spoke of the low internet data prices in the country. "The price of Internet data is so low in India that it is unbelievable for many nations. Last year, India's share was 40% in Real-time global digital payments... Now no PM will have to say that I send Re 1 from Delhi but only 15 paise reaches," he said.
