Thank you Naushad. First of all, let me say it's very good to be back with all of you in Pune, virtually this time, and really good to see you, Marise, I hope you're keeping well. Since this is about geo-economics and not about cricket, our conversation will have to wait a bit. But let me start with what Naushad said, because I think the last year, we had three big developments, which all impacted us, nationally, locally, in a way, they impacted the world as well. These were called global developments. One was the Covid, another was the economic impact of the Covid. The third, of course, were the challenges that we found on our border, which obviously had implications. In each of these cases, I would assert to you that there were difficult challenges, there were a lot of debates, as indeed there should be, there were tough decisions, there were a lot of second guessing, a lot of free advice given around. And I would say as a government, we listened to everything, then we did what we thought was the right thing to do. In the case of Covid, we went for early lockdown. Through leadership and exaltation, we induced a degree of social discipline, which was perhaps not readily imaginable in India. And we actually set up truly an impressive health infrastructure in a very, very short space of time. To create 16,000 dedicated centers, and to grow from zero to become an exporter of PPEs, masks, ventilators, testing kits, was frankly a very big deal.
The second was, of course, the economic impact and there too there were debates. I think many of you made your views known. And I'm not saying this with the benefit of hindsight. We consciously decided that there was a timing element to what should be the response. Obviously, the nature of response itself was an important issue. And frankly, not being pressurized into frontloaded stimulus measures, I truly believe, was a very sensible step. If the Covid issue showed the importance of being clear headed and bold, the second one showed the importance of not being stampeded. The third issue, when it came to the border issue, again we did what we had to do; there was a very active debate, which still continues to this day. It is natural for people to offer advice, often on matters, which they may not have particular knowledge of, that is a human trait. But, again, if there was what came through it was that we were resolute, we were strong about protecting our interests. And in each case, I would suggest to you, we thought through a very complicated issue, listened to everybody, but made up our mind, and eventually fashioned a response, which was effective.
Today, we are talking of a resilient world, in the post Covid situation. I think, obviously, the two things India needs to do. One, it needs to manage home, in the most expansive sense of that word, strongly and well. And two, it needs to contribute more and more abroad. So, how does one do that? I would say the beginnings of it, obviously, is, as I said, think through the problems for yourself. Advice is free, but because it's free, it has exactly that value. And I would say, Marise, if I am good to use a Hindi word called ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’. This is not a campaign, but an approach of the government, which basically says self-reliant India, but self-reliant, in a very, very broad sense of the term. So, the first step in that is thinking it through for yourself, not necessarily letting others push you or pressurize you or intimidate you and standing up for your interests. But as I said, ultimately, when it comes to challenges thinking through the solution for yourself. But it's not just dealing with the challenges. In the long run, we need to have policies, which are 24x7, 365 days a year, which build nations, which build societies. And here, if you see during this period, we have really undertaken very deep reforms. The Covid period was not just a health response period. It was also a period where the government used it, to push through, to fashion new policies, push through what I would argue were much needed reforms, which previous governments were reluctant to take, whether it was in agriculture, whether it was in labor, whether it was in education and a lot of that mindset is also reflected in the budget. Just like we look at the 1991-1992 period, my sense is, 20 years down the road, if people will say that was a turning point, I'm very convinced that people would say this year's decisions, this year's budget, this year’s policies, were another turning point. And as a practical measure, I would flag attention to the PLI initiatives. These are again, perhaps some of you are familiar, some of you may not be, production linked initiatives, which basically are meant to encourage manufacturing in an economy whose manufacturing has been increasingly hollowed out, in my view, partly by unfair competition, partly by wrong policies over the last 25 years.
So, what does it boil down to? It boils down really today to how to make India another important engine for growth of the global economy. Not just an engine, I think also a trusted source of vaccines today, data handling tomorrow, technology, down the road, connectivity. And to my mind, the resilience initiative, which we embarked on with Australia and Japan, was very, very timely. I think it captures, in many ways, both the incipient challenges and the problems that many of us have been encountering in the last few years. When I spoke about contributing more abroad, we are also looking at a more equitable globalization, where the benefits of globalization are fairer between countries and within societies. And where those who have capabilities, should have, I won't just say the large heartedness, I would say their enlightened self-interest to contribute. And that is exactly what we are doing today with vaccines. We are supplying 74 countries to date, 31 of them have already been supplied, including the first two on the Covax framework, 43 more are in the pipeline, and they really span the entire world. From Latin America and the Caribbean, all the way through Asia, Africa to the South Pacific. One other point, which is that, when I say contributing to the world, one part of it would be economically, would be in response to a health challenge.
I think there are concerns out there, there are uncertainties out there, there are problems there. The era when we could rely on somebody else, one country or two countries to take care of it, is behind us. More of us need to step up to the plate, more of us need to work together to make sure that the world is a better place, a safer place a more prosperous place. There has to be much greater concern for how the global commons is managed. And certainly here, India and Australia have discovered a new bonding in that process. And today, I would say whether it is the Quad, or perhaps some of the trilaterals that we'll be doing, is part of what is the changing world.
So just a quick wrap up of my remarks, and then Naushad we can take questions. So looking ahead, what is really this resilient world? I'm now giving a very narrow Indian perspective that we should be preparing for. First of all, and Naushad I'm saying this pointedly looking at you, I think going back to 1992 is not the answer. My sense is, if you do not build more capabilities at home, openness by itself is not a solution to a society. It means leaving yourself wide open to other people who may have far more predatory practices. It's very important to be strong at home, to build capabilities at home, and to ensure that the litmus test of good governance, which I would say is employment. If you have jobless growth, I don't think that's a great testimony to the policies of any country. So, if we are to look ahead, it isn't that let's do a little bit more of what we were doing and keep going that path. We are at a turning point, the world is fundamentally different, the economic situation is different, the trade situation is different, the strategic situation is different, and the landscape has changed. And we need much more people-centric policies, whether policies at home or policies abroad. I would say our vaccine support policy, vaccine provision policy abroad is very people centric, in a global sense, and all of this will work only if we can stand up in support of the basics by which international relations is conducted. So, today, it's important for good people to speak up and act in favor of a rules-based order. We cannot be politically agnostic when we look out at the world. These are some preliminary thoughts, but I'm sure, it would be good to develop it forward and I look forward to doing that with Marise.
New Delhi
February 26, 2021