A Bright Future Beckons!

The Indo-Pak tensions have reduced, and what started as the calm before the storm, thankfully, also became the calm after the storm, courtesy, the masterclass showcased by India through its all-round genius while navigating this most complex scenario—which many pundits predicted would become a protracted confrontation. What stood out after all this was India’s reputation as a responsible and self-respecting nation that displayed tremendous resilience and resolve to safeguard its national interests, protect its territorial sovereignty, along with responding most effectively to external dangers.

Our hon’ble Prime Minister in his address to the nation enunciated a new doctrine and established three broad principles, which going forward will be the basis of India’s strategic stance against future acts of terrorism. He also highlighted that the presence of the army personnel at the funeral of the terrorists killed in the Indian airstrikes was an undeniable proof of state-sponsored terrorism. He articulated that this is not an era of war, but at the same time it’s not an era of terrorism as well, and therefore, there has to be a zero tolerance against terror to guarantee a better world. His core message was about bringing lasting peace in the region, which in all likelihood, would result in economic prosperity for all. He also added that post the Pahalgam attack, India responded in a responsible manner, targeting only the terrorist camps, with no intention to wage a war.

Needless to mention, such clarity and straight talk is likely to bring peace and harmony, even though the Pahalgam attack was intended to create disharmony in the country, by using religion as the basis. Once again, as many times in the past, the entire country demonstrated its resolve to stand unitedly with the government of the day, and against the divisive forces.

In this backdrop, it is critical for India to keep heading in this direction that has been taken by demonstrating top-class military and diplomatic prowess. It will undoubtedly be in our long-term interest to keep pushing forward with our current and impactful strategies of creating a powerful nation that deploys the ever-increasing strength of its economy, perfectly utilises the demographic dividend to its advantage, and at the same time continues to build future ready technologies—both for our business and defence purposes. Today, our nation’s unprecedented thrust on innovation, R&D and creation of a robust policy-enabled business environment, along with a core belief in investing and using indigenous defence products, is a testimony to the unshakeable trust. Today, there is not a shred of doubt on our determination and unflinching self-belief—India can, India is, and India will continue to develop top-class business models, products and an enabling environment- that will ensure victory in all spheres of operations.

Our hon’ble Prime Minister’s vision of a ‘Viksit Bharat’ by 2047 can be realised by not only playing strong, but also by playing smart. In the current global environment, the geopolitical situation is constantly changing, and we are witnessing a huge realignment of relationships and dynamics between nations. In such a scenario, India has to hold its ground, convey its stand and position emphatically, and yet, without ruffling feathers. Therefore, continued deft handling is undoubtedly the need of the hour.

I must also emphasise that over the past decade, India, under the Modi government 1.0, 2.0 and now 3.0 has handled the most complicated and unexpected developments in the most visionary, sophisticated and graceful manner. There are many examples that I would like to highlight, such as India’s stellar handling of the covid pandemic—while global economies significantly contracted in the fiscal year 2021-2022, India’s GDP expanded by 9.5 per cent, showcasing a strong recovery and outperforming even the most developed economies. This can be attributed to a combination of factors, including government stimulus measures, a revival in consumer demand, and increased industrial production. India, not just became a case study for the world on how nations needed to respond, but it also became a beacon of hope by exporting the covid vaccine and reaching out to different countries of the world. Between January 2021 and June 2023, India exported 30.1 crore Covid vaccine doses, while a majority of these doses, 77 per cent were commercial exports, 17.3 per cent were directed to low-income developing nations through COVAX, and the rest were provided as grants.

Another example has been of how, in the face of tremendous economic slowdown and conflict in different regions of the world, India has stood out and shown to even the most developed nations, how policies need to be envisioned, their disciplined adherence to timelines, along with continuous and end-to-end monitoring to ensure seamless rollouts—all of which was done by the government with aplomb. India has set a timeline of becoming a developed nation by 2047, and going by how the government is systematically approaching all aspects related to this goal, it is my firm belief that this target will be achieved, possibly, even before the deadline! Such is the faith that the youth, women and the elderly have on the direction shown and path illuminated by our hon’ble Prime Minister.

The latest confrontation between India and Pakistan witnessed the implementation of all the methodical steps that have been taken over the past decade in the direction of self-reliance. The unshakeable belief exhibited by the current dispensation on ‘Make in India’ with regard to defence, has indeed been validated—and like how! The brilliant performance of the Akash missile system has been a result of this unflinching faith in our own capabilities. The last 10 years have witnessed unprecedented and significant growth of the Indian defence production under the make in India initiative- this reached a record Rs 1.27 lakh crore (nearly USD 15 billion) in FY 2023-24, a 174 per cent increase since 2014-15. In addition, initiatives like iDEX and SAMARTHYA are driving technological advancements in AI, cyber warfare and indigenous weapon systems.

India is well aware of the critical role of technology and the requirement for a sustained thrust in this direction. With this clear understanding, the government has allocated a Rs 1 lakh crore fund to boost private sector research and development (R&D) and innovation. A portion of this fund, around Rs 20,000 crore has been assigned for the Department of Science and Technology (DST).

While a lot has been achieved since 2014, and the government’s vision for the times ahead seems impressive and promises superior delivery on key parameters that are vital for India’s development, I believe it is most important that there needs to be a realisation in the heart and mind of every Indian that we have to collectively and cumulatively work in national interest and rise above our personal agenda. It is, therefore, my conviction that purpose, perseverance and planning have to be the hallmarks of the individual, community and societal level actions—these will be the cornerstones of our long-term success as a nation.

The writer is President, Corporate Affairs, ITC. Views expressed are personal