India to be center point of connectivity: Jyotiraditya Scindia

Communications minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said India would the centrepoint for connectivity and that all trading routes would go through the country in the next decade.

Addressing delegates at AIMA’s National Leadership Conclave on Tuesday, Scindia said the government is thinking of building an India-Myanmar-Thailand highway and it is already building a highway to Chittagong.

“India’s rise today is real, rapid and resolute, and it’s a country that is confident, connected, courageous,” said the communications minister, who is also in charge of the Development of the Northeastern Region.

He said all northeastern states are getting railway connectivity, and the region now has 17 airports, adding the Tata Group is building one of India’s first semiconductor fabrication facilities in the region.

He added that the Northeast used to be the only connection to the world for southeast Asia and it can become an economic and trade hub.

According to the communications minister, India’s rise is based on fundamentals of economic growth and structural change. He said the US had become an economic superpower by growing at 3-4% for a century and that India’s growth rate during the past decade had been about 8%.

India’s public spending, he said, had shifted to investment on creating future revenue streams, with every rupee invested generating multiple returns.

Scindia also underlined the importance of the world’s fastest 5G network rollout happening in India and that the country’s UPI model is now being sought by developed countries.

“All this will result in India’s recognition not just as a regional player but a global one - a driver of global economic growth, a source of global stability, a torchbearer of innovation, and one to show path to the world,” the communications minister said.