'India fastest growing among big economies of world': PM Modi at SCO Summit

India is set to see the highest growth this year among the bigger economies in the world, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Friday as he addressed the expanded session of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Summit in Uzbekistan. Acknowledging the role of the SCO globally, PM Modi also spoke about the pandemic and the Ukraine war in his address. Stressing on the need of increased cooperation among nations, PM Modi said that India is working towards becoming a global manufacturing hub.

"The Indian economy is expected to grow at the rate of 7.5 per cent this year. I'm glad that ours is one of the fastest growing among the largest economies of the world," the prime minister said. "We are focussing on people-centric development model. We are supporting innovation in every sector. Today there are more than 70,000 start-ups and over 100 unicorns in our country. This experience of ours can be of use to many other SCO members as well. For this purpose, we are ready to share our experience with the member countries of SCO by establishing a new Special Working Group on Startups and Innovation," he underlined.

India backs cooperation and trust among the SCO nations, PM Modi pointed out, adding: “The pandemic and the Ukraine war had created multiple hurdles for the global supply chain. Because of this, the world faced an unprecedented energy and food crisis,” he underlined.

“Today, as the world is overcoming the pandemic, the role of the SCO is highly critical. The SCO nations - where 40 percent of the world population resides - contribute about 30 per cent to the global GDP. The organisation should help in bolstering diversified supply chains. For this, not just better connectivity but better transit would be the need of the hour,” PM Modi stressed.

Several world leaders including China's Xi Jinping and Russian president Vladimir Putin are attending the summit. PM Modi is set to have bilateral meetings with Putin, the Uzbek president and the Iranian president.