Modi’s Davos speech warns against protectionism, climate change and terrorism, but skips inequality
Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, in a keynote speech at the opening plenary session on Tuesday, January 23. While his speech lasting under an hour batted for globalisation, free flow of capital and world trade, as well as multilateralism to tackle the immense challenges facing us all, and warned against the threefold menace of climate change, protectionism and terrorism, the PM nevertheless skirted any mention of the rising inequality in the world at large, as well as in his own country.
Opening Plenary with Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of India https://t.co/vtdsuHPeyr
— World Economic Forum (@wef) January 23, 2018
While the Klaus Schwab-founded WEF acts as an annual springboard of ideas to promote and support the free flow of global capital, this year, like last year, it’s about recuperating from global shocks and predicting future risks, indeed indicated in the theme “Creating a shared future in a fractured world”. While PM Modi harped on the “fractures” at length, in fact quite comprehensively, missing from his speech were any reference to or solution for the fault lines that divide the country as well as the world along community and socioeconomic axes.
Taking the India story to the movers and shakers of the world economy! PM @narendramodi delivering his keynote speech at the Plenary Session of the #WorldEconomicForum in #Davos. Need to work together to address global challenges in a rapidly changing world #IndiaMeansBusiness pic.twitter.com/kVVb12Ia2N
— Raveesh Kumar (@MEAIndia) January 23, 2018
Globalisation के विरुद्ध इस चिंताजनक स्थिति का हल अलगाव में नहीं है। इसका समाधान परिवर्तन को समझने और उसे स्वीकारने में है, बदलते हुए समय के साथ चुस्त और लचीली नीतियां बनाने में है: PM @narendramodi
— PMO India (@PMOIndia) January 23, 2018
Against protectionism
Modi made a passionate plea against protectionism, making a thinly veiled reference to US president Donald Trump’s “America First” policy, as well as clearly mentioning Brexit as a disruptive development in recent world politics. "There are many questions before us that require answer for generations to come. Is the existing international system promoting fractures and rift in this world? Can we remove these rifts and distances to make a good shared future?" the prime minister said, indicating a clash of trends, as it were.
While he said that “fractures” along nationalist lines that erect walls at a time when the human kind is more connected than ever through the internet, social platforms like Twitter and Facebook, buying items online through giant outlets like Amazon, these “fractures”, especially the international ones, become one between the “present and the future”.
He said: "Many countries are becoming inward focused and globalisation is shrinking and such tendencies can't be considered lesser risk than terrorism or climate change."
Against terrorism
PM Modi said the distinction between “good terrorist” and “bad terrorist” is artificial and dangerous. At a time when combating global terrorism is one of the top priorities worldwide, driving military strategies and revving up defence expenditure, national security is an international concern that was highlighted by the prime minister.
Terrorism is dangerous. Worse is when people say there is a difference between 'good' and 'bad' terror. It is painful to see some youngsters getting radicalised: PM @narendramodi at @wef
— PMO India (@PMOIndia) January 23, 2018
He said: “I say with full conviction that terrorism is bad in all its forms and facets. It is bad irrespective of its territory of origin or target of operation. We all must unite in fight against terrorism. India stands firmly with all such forces. I must also take the opportunity to appeal to all of you to see that such groups do not get money, arms and ammunition. It cannot be a good business to do business with such elements. We all know that, without peace, progress and prosperity is not possible.”
Against climate change
PM Modi also sounded a clarion call for combating climate change, saying human beings have no right to destroy “mother nature”. Batting for the Paris Agreement and the immense contribution of India (and China) to stick to it (in the face of Trump-led exit of the United States from shouldering those responsibilities), PM Modi said “environmental safeguards” are as much our responsibility as development.
Let us think about what we can do to mitigate climate change. @wef #IndiaMeansBusiness https://t.co/plnF2ehgs8 pic.twitter.com/ZrEKuHGVRY
— PMO India (@PMOIndia) January 23, 2018
He said: “In our culture, we treat the Nature as mother. We also believe that man only has the right to milk it; not to destroy it. That is why, through Paris Agreement, we have assured the global community that our development process would be entirely in line with our cultural ethos towards environmental safeguards. In fact, we are not only aware of our responsibilities towards climate change; we are willing to take lead in mitigating its effects.”
India means business, but ...
PM Modi spoke of “bold FDI reforms”, “five pillars” of India’s development agenda, “competitive federalism”, to make the investment in India pitch at the respected global platform. He said: “our first pillar is our mantra of reform, perform and transform. Our reforms have touched almost all sectors. This specially includes: formalising the informal economy through demonetisation and digital transactions, direct tax reforms and expansion of the tax base, banking reforms, DBT through UID and Bank accounts, minimizing discretion, combating corruption and controlling inflation. Also, we have consistently reduced fiscal deficit and current account deficit.”
However, each of these claims waxed eloquent on glaring inequalities staring us in the face. For one, the Davos Oxfam report underlined how in India, wealth disparity has reached an extreme, with 73 per cent owning the 2017 wealth creation. Moreover, the WEF’s inclusive development index (IDI) put India at 62 out of 77 emerging economies, below countries like China, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Iran, Burundi, Malaysia, Thailand, Mexico, Morocco, among others.
As PM Modi pitches for the role of a global statesman, the glaring disparity and the socio-political tensions ripping India apart haven’t escaped the world’s notice. In fact, even as Klaus Schwab talks about India’s role in the fourth industrial revolution and in a multi-conceptual world driven by computing and data, the exclusions driven by Aadhaar, the legality of which is being debated in the Supreme Court, have been making global headlines.
Therefore, even as PM Modi makes a passionate plea for inclusive globalisation, despite the gaffes, his performance as the prime minister of India and handling of the domestic economy puts a question mark on his ability to yield tangible results after the two-day blitzkrieg of ideas and investment pitches. The proof of the pudding lies in its eating.