PM Narendra Modi can make India a 7 trillion dollar economy by 2030: Dr Chandra

Highlighting that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given yet another shot in the arm to the Indian economy through his successful meetings with CEOs of global corporations, and with American diplomacy and polity, Dr Jagdeesh Chandra stresses that Modi is silently fulfilling yet another role - that of a skilled strategist and peacemaker for the emerging challenges against China. Dr Chandra also stresses that while on one hand, Modi is taking the Indian economy to the 7 trillion dollar mark, he also shares that the Indian Prime Minister has an important role in the Quad that is formed to counter China. Excerpts... (Part II)

• Did Narendra Modi get a great response at the round table conference of global CEOs in New York?
  Dr Jagdeesh Chandra: Yes, Modi has got unprecedented support from global CEOs. He asked them to join India’s growth story and they said sure. What could be bigger than this and what could be a better response than this? The result of this is that Google and other major corporations are going to enhance their engagement in India with a focus on artificial intelligence. Overall, the visit and this meeting were a success and in the near future, a huge amount of foreign investment is going to come through these CEOs. However, what is more interesting is that Modi behaved like a CEO. He was like first among equals and no one ever thought they were talking to a Prime Minister. Moreover, Modi was so knowledgeable that even the CEOs were surprised by the depth of his knowledge and wondered how a political personality knew so much about business, FDI, the country’s economy, and financial parameters. So, it was a great show on Modi’s part.

• Looking at the efforts of Narendra Modi towards developing India and making it the third largest economy in the world, do you think that India will become a 7 trillion dollar economy by 2030?
  It can become so. I am not saying this, rather the CEO-MD of JP Morgan of India has said that India can achieve this target by 2030. The reason for this is that for the last ten years, Narendra Modi has been making efforts to bring foreign investment, to create attraction towards India in foreign countries, to attract foreign investors, and as he is saying that very soon we are going to become the third largest economy of the world, so it is not a big deal if we become a seven trillion dollar economy by 2030. Let’s hope for the best.

• What is the Cancer Moonshot Project of Prime Minister Narendra Modi?
  See, this project was very close to the heart of former American President Barack Obama. This project was started in 2016 and its purpose was to do something big for the prevention of cancer in the Indo-Pacific countries. The research has been going on for many years but now it has materialised. Narendra Modi and the Presidents and Prime Ministers of other Quad countries were present at its launch and India has announced four crore cancer doses. So this is a good effort in the nations which come in Indo-Pacific and now a scientific and specialised treatment will be available for cancer in these countries. This is a good effort and should be appreciated.

• Do you see any role of the Indian share market in this developed India journey of the Prime Minister?
  You can see that the Sensex is at 85000 and people are saying that by June it will reach one lakh. Did anyone ever imagine this? Such a huge foreign investment has come in the share market, never before. The share market is a picture of the country’s economy. This is one of the parameters for which credit goes to PM Modi and the way the stock market is rising, it is one of the parameters. We all should be proud that the economy is progressing.

• There was a lot of discussion about Quad during the Prime Minister’s visit. What is this Quad and what is the basic objective of its establishment?
  Quad is a security alliance among America, India, Japan, and Australia to fight China. Quad was formed in 2007 but its need was felt in 2004 and its work had started. Tsunami came on 26 December 2004 in which lakhs of people were affected in 14 countries and 2 lakh people died. So it was decided that all the nations should cooperate for prevention and relief from such disasters, so Quad was born from this. Its basic objective is to expand cooperation among members and to ensure peace and stability in Indo-Pacific.

• Then the question is, has China’s economy been falling for some time? And are the prices of consumer goods also falling there?
  You are right. China has been in trouble for the last 2-3 years. Earlier, China used to flood the Indian markets with cheap products, but now on one hand, the challenge of Narendra Modi’s Make in India has come up, and secondly, the situation there has become such that the production that was done is not being sold, due to which there is surplus production lying there and consumer products are not being sold. The central bank there has put 142 billion dollars in the market to set everything right in the market, but it did not make any difference and now China is worried about where to sell the goods. So now, it is looking for its market in Africa and has invested 50 billion dollars there. Indeed, China’s economy is currently in crisis, goods are lying in surplus and prices are falling.

• Why was the entire focus on China in the Quad Summit? What was the message for China in the Quad?
  The message for China is that enough is enough, be careful, now we will not tolerate more. The American President has also said that China is testing it. The issue of the South China Sea is the main issue there. China does not allow free movement and creates more problems there. So that is why all these nations have united and a consensus has been formed to stop the expansion of China. So the message to China is that any attempt to block free movement in the South China Sea will be taken seriously.

• Prime Minister Modi said that Quad is not against anyone but is here to stay. What does this mean?
  What he means is that we are doing our work and you do your work. Earlier, our policy was to maintain equal distance from everyone. And now, it is that we are close to everyone. The second message of his is that we are going to stay and take us seriously, let us work, do not stop our free movement. Narendra Modi wants a lawbased global order and work should be done according to the law. Apart from this, there should be a sense of respect for the regional and territorial integrity and jurisdiction of a country. So, this is the kind of effort that all nations want to stop China’s expansionist efforts.

• But looking at China’s aggressive stance, what do you think, will Quad be able to stop it if needed?
  It depends on how much America comes forward. Anyway, the world is standing on the brink of a world war and if something like this happens, a new issue will be raised. However, as of today, it does not seem that China is going to take any big steps and increase the restrictions in the South China Sea or stop the movement itself. As far as confrontation is concerned, see, the leader is America. Till now, it has been that we should move peacefully with China and wherever China creates a conflict, the other countries try to escape. India’s case is a little different because we are fully prepared. Recently, Foreign Minister S Jaishankar said that we have resolved 85 percent of the border issues. But now if a situation of conflict arises, then China will have it this time because we are not the India of 1962. Hence, the basic question is whether these nations will be able to face it, then it will depend on what view they take on America and India. We hope that such a situation does not arise.

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