B20 Summit: 'Look at India for its strengths and not as China’s alternative,' says FM Sitharaman

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman believes that India should be seen for its strengths and not as an alternative to China. While speaking at the B20 Summit on Friday in New Delhi, she said, “I’d rather play the India story more for itself rather than choosing India because China is not working out.” 

She was responding to a question on how India should take the news of a slowdown in China. 

She addressed the question and said that while she is tracking developments happening in China, she is putting her energies more into the strengths of the country. She also added that information about China is never clearly available. 

“I think India is showing strengths in so many different areas which are new-age areas,” she said and gave the example of sectors such as space-tech where India reported a significant breakthrough with Chandrayaan-3 success.

“Only two days ago you saw what India could achieve,” she said referring to Chandrayaan-3’s landing on the Moon's South Pole. Citing the example of Indian Space Research Organisation’s (ISRO) scientists, Sitharaman said that one needs to bank on the country's young population, which is skilled and English-speaking. 

“Those working for ISRO come from Tier-2 and -3 cities. You may have never heard of them. They chose to stay in India and not go abroad.”

She said that the government is working on building a system where decision-making is transparent and technology-driven. 

“We want a system where it is easy to do business in India, attract investments, and make sure opportunities are available for all,” said Sitharaman.

In her address before responding to the question, Sitharaman also stressed that sustaining economic recovery over the next few years will be the main challenge over the years to come and underlined five priorities for global economic growth, including taming inflation and increasing the focus on investments.
 

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