Highlights of PM's statement in his interview to Newsweek magazine ::
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"We are a democracy, not only because our Constitution says so, but also because it is in our genes.
India is the mother of democracy. Be it Uttaramerur in Tamil Nadu, where you can find inscriptions about India's democratic values from 1100 to 1200 years ago, or speak of our scriptures which give examples of political power being exercised by broad-based consultative bodies.
As the largest democracy in the world, over 600 million people voted in the General Elections in 2019. (In 2024) ....over 970 million eligible voters will exercise their franchise. More than one million polling stations would be set up across India.
Constantly increasing voter participation is a big certificate for the people's faith in Indian democracy.
A democracy like India is able to move ahead and function only because there is a vibrant feedback mechanism. "
"There are a few people in India and in the West who have lost [connection with] the people of India—their thought processes, feelings and aspirations. These people also tend to live in their own echo chamber of alternate realities. They conflate their own dissonance with the people with dubious claims of diminishing media freedom."
$$ "The pace of India's transformation in the last decade has been accelerated by the rapid overhaul of its infrastructure.
In the last 10 years, our National Highways network increased 60 percent, from 91,287 kilometers [56,723 miles] in 2014 to 146,145 kilometers [90,810 miles] in 2023. We have more than doubled our airports, from 74 in 2014 to over 150 in 2024. Supported by our Sagarmala project, we have enhanced [the] capacity of our ports and improved the operational efficiency. We have started the tech-smart "Vande Bharat" trains for the comfort of our citizens and UDAN scheme to allow common people to fly.
Every road laid is a pathway to progress, every new airport opened provides a window to new opportunities, every railway station redeveloped energizes the local economy. We will further harness waterways. We will focus on building more metro lines across our cities to make urban transport more comfortable. We are building dedicated freight corridors ...."
*** "Be it lighting 10 million homes through [the] rooftop solar program or empowering farmers with solar-powered pumps, be it distributing 400 million energy-efficient bulbs and ensuring 13 million efficient streetlights or having one of the fastest adoption of EVs, be it airports or railway stations or bridges, our infrastructure is leveraging renewable energy.
Since 2014, India has massively stepped up investments in renewable energy with solar energy capacity increasing from just 2,820 MW in 2014 to over 72,000 MW now.
India is also well on its way to meet the 500 GW of renewable energy capacity and the climate commitment made in the Paris conference by 2030.
We have launched a $2.5 billion dollar National Green hydrogen mission which will contribute toward decarbonization and avert [a] further 50 MMT per annum of CO2 emissions by 2030.
We are launching 10,000 electric buses in 100 cities of India at a cost of almost $7 billion, giving a major boost to green urban mobility and reducing noise and air pollution.
India's per capita emission is already less than half of the global average. India will achieve net-zero emission by 2070 as announced.
The aim of rapid economic growth is to ensure empowerment of the poor and their social mobility."
"As a result of the robust economic growth, we have been able to run unprecedented welfare schemes. These welfare schemes have ensured that the poor get 40 million houses, over 100 million clean fuel connections, around 110 million clean water connections, over 110 million toilets, 500 million people get free health care and the last remaining 18 thousand villages get electricity.
These welfare measures have not only improved the standard of living for our poor but have also ensured multiple second-order effects like improving productivity, monetary and time savings and health outcomes.
Our efforts at improving social mobility have also extended to different sectors and geographies which were previously ignored.
With the aspirational districts program, we have brought about a transformation in more than 100 districts which were previously termed as backward.
With the vibrant villages program, we are bringing about a transformation in border villages, which were previously ignored. The eastern and northeastern part of India, which was long ignored, has seen [an] unprecedented push on infrastructure."
On religious minorities who complain of discrimination
"These are usual tropes of some people who don't bother to meet people outside their bubbles. Even India's minorities don't buy this narrative anymore. Minorities from all religions, be it Muslim, Christians, Buddhist, Sikh, Jain or even a micro-minority like Parsis are living happily and thriving in India.
"For the first time in our country, our government has come up with a unique saturation coverage approach when it comes to schemes and initiatives. They are not restricted for a group of people belonging to a particular community or a geography.
They are meant to reach everyone, which means that they are designed in such a way that there cannot be any discrimination. Be it amenities like house, toilets, water connection or cooking fuel or be it collateral free credit or health insurance, it is reaching every citizen irrespective of his community and religion.
Women are at the forefront of India's development story today. We have changed the lexicon from women's development to women-led development."
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