 The Chair, Secretary-General, Excellencies, Delegates, our host, the Republic of Argentina, Ladies and Gentlemen. In the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, together we expressed our commitment to take bold and transformative steps which are urgently needed to shift the world onto a sustainable and resilient path of development, making sure that no one is left behind. The ITU World Telecommunication Development Conference is one of the most significant opportunities we have to define our programs, set the agenda on ICTs for development, to accomplish the SDGs and to review the WESIS outcomes in 2025. I thank the ITU for providing India this opportunity to share India's endeavors and achievements in the growth of ICTs and their applications for development. I would particularly like to thank the Republic of Argentina for hosting this historic Jubilee Summit. India, the world's most populous democracy, is in the cusp of a momentous transformation. The Digital India program, under the leadership of the Prime Minister, Mr. Modi, aims to transform the country with over 1.2 billion people, 1 billion phones and 450 million internet users, into a forward-looking knowledge economy and society. The three pillars of Digital India are provision of digital infrastructure as a utility, governance and services on demand and digital empowerment of its citizens. India's vision is to connect 250,000 village clusters with broadband highways by 2018. I'm glad to mention that over 100,000 village clusters have already been connected through optic fiber broadband, even as we speak. And we expect that this will bring in 100 million rural citizens online. India's unique biometric digital ID program, called ADAR, or Foundation, has already enrolled over 1 billion people in the country and is today being extensively used for targeted delivery of financial and other benefits. Today, over 260 million people in India receive their financial entitlements directly into their bank accounts. 30 billion USD of entitlements are being transferred directly through this mechanism. India is also working to expand the South Asia satellite programs for regional development so that television, DTH, VSAT, teleeducation, telemedicine, disaster management support, natural resources mapping and deeper IT connectivity are available not merely to Indian citizens but also to its regional neighbors. India is executing a number of capacity-building programs for developing countries through its ITU center of excellence at the ALTTC. As part of regional initiatives, India is also implementing various projects in collaboration with countries in Africa, South Asia and Southeast Asia. The government of India's public sector unit, the Telecom Consultants of India Limited, has executed the Pan-African E-Network project, which is successfully delivering healthcare and other services to different countries of Africa since 2009. India has also supported the regional SASEC project, which envisages setting up of an information highway in Bangladesh, Bhutan and Nepal through high-speed optic fiber networks. India has always stood for making other countries as well self-reliant. On this occasion, I would like to reiterate India's willingness to extend necessary support to other developing countries jointly with ITU and the other international organizations in developing ICTs. India would be happy to share its low-cost technologies developed for rural areas and the latest platforms for various solutions, including smart city solutions. India supports the ITU to be in the forefront in the UN Technology Bank engagement in the ICTs for least-developed countries. While acknowledging the role of ITU and its vision in furthering the WESIS mandate, India would like to exhort ITU to develop a blueprint for effective international cooperation in building a genuine trust framework for the safe and secure use of ICTs. I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your active support and partnership to Indian Endiverse as the current Council Member and to seek your continued support and mandate for India in the next ITU Council. To end, I wish the Conference all success and wish productive outcomes through dialogue which will address the concerns of all people, particularly those who are not here but who need ICTs the most in bridging the digital divide. Thank you.