Prime Minister Narendra Modi yesterday said some “people” tried to sabotage “demonetisation” but the exercise was seen through successfully because the nation stood behind the decision.
In an interview given to TV channel Times Now, Modi, without referring to anyone specifically, said “they” tried to derail the demonetisation exercise through various means to “save corrupt people”.
“People tried to start a fire, they even attempted to incite riots, they knocked on Supreme Court’s door, they tried everything possible. These attempts were to save those who were hoarding black money, to save corrupt people, to save the dishonest,” he said.
The prime minister said demonetisation was not just a change of currency and the way it was carried out got the world’s respect.
“Several small countries of world tried to carry out demonetisation in their lands but retreated. It is India’s great success that this was not just a change of one currency with another, but the way country’s federal structure, it’s governance, it’s common man, RBI’s role... is enough to get it respect of the world,” he said.
Ahead of his visit to Davos in Switzerland today for the World Economic Forum, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he looked forward to sharing his vision for India’s engagement with the international community.
“The existing and emerging challenges to the contemporary international system and global governance architecture deserve serious attention of leaders, governments, policy-makers, corporates and civil societies around the world,” Modi said in a pre-departure statement here.
“In recent years, India’s engagement with the outside world has become truly and effectively multi-dimensional, covering political, economic, people-to-people, security and other spheres,” he said.
“At Davos, I look forward to sharing my vision for India’s future engagement with the international community.”
Modi will be the first prime minister from India to participate in a forum meeting in two decades after the then prime minister H D Deve Gowda in 1997.
Explaining the significance of Modi’s visit during a media briefing here on Friday, Vijay Gokhale, secretary (economic relations) in the ministry of external affairs, said that in 1997, the Indian economy was well below $1tn whereas it is now above $2 trillion.
The main event in Davos will be the keynote speech of Modi at the plenary session on January 23.
In his statement, Modi said that apart from the events for the World Economic Forum, he looked forward to separate bilateral meetings with Swiss President Alain_Berset and Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven.
“I am confident that these bilateral meetings will be fruitful and give a boost to our relations with these countries and further strengthen economic engagement,” he said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses an event in New Delhi yesterday.
