India is on track to become a $10 trillion economy and will be the third largest.
According to WEF President, India is on track to become a $10 trillion economy and will be the third largest.
India is on course to become a USD 10 trillion economy in the next years, assuming the third-largest position soon, globe Economic Forum President Borge Brende said on Thursday, describing the country as a source of optimism not seen elsewhere in a very fractured and polarised globe. In an exclusive video interview with PTI, Brende also stated that the World Economic Forum (WEF) hopes to return to the country with the WEF India Summit in conjunction with the Government of India when the time is right.
“The Indian economy is the fastest growing among all large economies of the world. We saw in Davos this year that there was a huge interest in India and I think this will only continue,” Brende said. Geneva-based WEF, which describes itself as an international organisation for public-private cooperation, holds its annual meeting in the Swiss ski resort town Davos every year in January.
Brende said Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is “always very, very welcome to Davos”. “When you come to India, you feel some optimism which is not the case all over the world. We are facing a geopolitical recession, a very fragmented and polarised world, but still there are areas where we can collaborate and it is important to find those areas,” he said.
Brende stated that economic growth is not so awful, particularly in India, where “we are seeing 7 percent economic growth and the world’s largest economy, the US, which is also doing very well.” Brende stated that India is on course to become the world’s third largest economy in the next 2-3 years, with a GDP of USD 10 trillion in the future years. “India has undergone significant reforms and is now well positioned in comparison to the world’s two largest economies, the United States and China.” Also, India is seeing a good increase in foreign direct investments, and a lot of manufacturing activities are now taking place in India, which used to happen in other growing nations.”
He also praised India’s digital competitiveness, noting that digital trade is expanding more faster than traditional goods in the globe today. “India is well placed and it is just a question of time before India becomes the third largest economy in the world after the US and China,” he added.
Regarding India’s role in geopolitical crises, Brende stated, “We will see a larger and larger Indian footprint on the global diplomatic scene in the years to come.” So far, India’s top aim has been to secure economic growth, eliminate poverty, and ensure that the country thrives in terms of affluence.
“I think India has also stayed away from any knee-jerk reactions on geopolitical issues.It’s not an easy neighbourhood in Asia but India has dealt with situations very well and we do not see any conflicts in this region as we have seen in places like Ukraine and the Middle East,” he added.
