India will be open and friendly for business, ideas: Modi on US visit

New YorkAsserting that there is a high tide of hope for change in India Prime Minister NarendraModi has said that the country will be open and friendly for business and ideas to make it a new global manufacturing hubWe will create worldclass infrastructure that India badly needs to accelerate growth and meet peoples basic needs We will make our cities and towns habitable sustainable and smart and we will make our villages the new engines of economic transformation Modi saidNarendra ModiMake in India is our commitment and an invitation to all to turn India into a new global manufacturing hub We will do what it takes to make it a reality he wrote in an oped article in The Wall Street JournalModi said India will pursue its dreams in partnership with its international friends History tells us that Indias natural instinct is to be open to the world India will be open and friendly for business ideas research innovations and travel Modi saidIn the coming months you will feel the difference even before you begin your travel to India The Prime Minister who arrives in New York today on his maiden fiveday US visit said There is a high tide of hope for change in IndiaModi said that 125 billion people spoke unequivocally this May for political stability good governance and rapiddevelopment adding that India has a government with a majority in the Lok Sabha for the first time in 30 yearsA young nation with 800 million people under age 35 India is brimming with optimism and confidence The youngpeoples energy enthusiasm and enterprise are Indias greatest strengthUnleashing those attributes is my governments biggest mission he said We will pursue this mission by eliminating unnecessary laws and regulations making bureaucratic processes easier and shorter and ensuring that our government is more transparent responsive and accountableIt has been said that doing the thing right is as important as doing the right thing he said Referring to his election campaign the Prime Minister said he ran it on the promise of inclusive developmentTo me that means many things skills education and opportunity safety dignity and rights for those in every section of our society especially women a bank account for every Indian affordable health care within everyones reach sanitation for all by 2019 a roof over every head by 2022 electricity for every household and connectivity to every village he saidIn addressing these daunting challenges I draw confidence from countless extraordinary stories of ordinary Indians that I have seen through decades of travel across India he saidModi said he strongly believes in the possibilities of technology and innovation to transform governance empowerpeople provide affordable solutions for societal challenges and reach people in ways that were unimaginable not so longagoHe said the number of cellphones in India has gone up from about 40 million to more than 900 million in a decade ourcountry is already the secondlargest market for smart phones with sales growing even fasterWhen I think of the growth in computing power and storage capacity and its miniaturisation that the world has witnessed over the past two decades I am confident that this can be replicated in renewable energyWith solar and wind power thousands of Indian villages will be able to get access quickly to reliable affordable andclean energy without waiting for large faraway conventional power plants to be built Modi saidFor this reason Indias journey to prosperity can be a more sustainable and environmentally sensitive one than thepath followed by countries that came of age in earlier eras This is a journey of our choice rooted in our traditionthat worships natures bounties the Prime Minister wrote