San Jose: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday evening received a grand reception at the SAP Center in Silicon Valley amidst loud cheers “Modi-Modi” from the packed audience.
The Prime Minister’s entrance was no less than that of a rockstar as whistles, screams and thundering applause echoed across the centre.
Modi said that the 21st century is India’s century and attributed the sudden change in India’s fortune to the commitment, strength and pledge of the 125 crore people of the country.
I have faith in the nation because India is youthful. 65% of our population is under the age of 35: PM @narendramodi
— PMO India (@PMOIndia)
September 28, 2015
“For some time now, people are saying that the 21st century is India’s century,” Modi said to a strong crowd of 18,500 Indian-Americans.
Asserting that he is giving every minute of his life in the service of the nation, Modi said he would live and die for the country. Modi said that in the past 16 months, world’s perception about India has changed dramatically. The world is looking at India with a new vision and aspiration. He attributed this change to the commitment, strength and pledge of the 125 crore people of the country.
“I can tell you with confidence that this country will not remain behind,” he said during his speech, which was marked with several rounds of loud cheering. In just 15 months, India has scaled new heights, has attained economic stability. In the past six months almost all rating agency have said in one voice that India is the fastest growing economy in large countries, he said.
Prime Minister Modi said that no one ever thought that brain drain can become brain gain. “This is actually brain deposit,” he asserted, adding that it would serve its motherland at an appropriate time. “Now it is the time that every Indian can show people their strength,” he said in his hour-long speech.
Modi recollected the contribution of the Gadar party in San Francisco in India’s independence movement. California has had a historic relationship and contribution in India’s development, he said.
“I am meeting Indian Americans a year after the Madison Square Garden event in New York. I am coming to California after 25 years. A lot has changed. Many new faces that I see. I can see here India’s vibrancy here,” he said.
Modi congratulated Indian-Americans for the place of pride they came created for themselves among the people of Californians. The world has changed its impression about India because of your talent in computers. With your talent, commitment, innovations you are forcing the world to change.
If they do not change their view about India, they would become irrelevant in the 21st century he said. Noting that the mega corporations of today were startups of yesterday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi compared his new government in New Delhi as a startup that had its own share on bumps on the road. “When I shifted to Delhi last year, I thought of my government as a Startup. So, I also saw some of the bumps you face on the road,” Modi told members of Startup community from India and the US here. The mega corporations of today were Startups of yesterday, he said, adding that what is different now is that the digital age has created a fertile new environment for Startups. The idea of startups, he said, is close to his heart.
“You are likely to wonder why, because governments and national capitals are supposed to stop or slow things down, not start them up. I know this was once the view of Washington from Silicon Valley and this is exactly how tech specialists in Bengaluru thought about New Delhi. I know that many of you think that the only problems that have not been solved are the ones for which you have not written the apps yet,” Modi said.
Modi said he understands their challenges, but also the wonderful feeling of creating something new. “The course of human history and progress has been shaped by imagination, inspiration, invention and innovation. I often say, if there’s a strong wind blowing, some might want to shut the window. Others will want to put up a windmill or launch their sails on the seas.
“The difference between perception of something as a challenge or an opportunity is the difference between inertia and initiative; status quo and progress,” Modi said.
