 His Excellency Narendra Modi Prime Minister, let me start by congratulating you and the people of India for celebrating 75 years of independence. I also want to express my admiration for your strong leadership on handling the pandemic. India has continued to expand its profile as a major global power, also by providing vaccines and other medical supplies to so many countries. So it's no doubt that India will play a critical role in leading the exit from the pandemic and in driving global economic recovery and post-pandemic course. Highlighting says India is expected to grow by 8.5% this year. India has also been at the forefront of thriving global action and climate change and green transition by leading global movements such as the International Solar Alliance, your landmark and Jamerit pledge at COP26 and through national initiatives such as the National Hydrogen Mission. For over 40 years, Mr. Prime Minister, I have always been a strong believer in India and even more so in its fourth industrial revolution. With its young population, technical powers and a knack for innovation, India has the potential to shape the global agenda, particularly by assuming the G20 German ship next year. Prime Minister, it is amazing that in 2021, in the middle of the pandemic, India has had 44 new unicorns and this is a testament to your nation's spirit of innovation and entrepreneurship. I now welcome His Excellency Narendra Modi for the State of the World Address at the World Economic Forum's Davos agenda. Prime Minister, the floor is yours. Good evening. On behalf of 1.3 billion Indians, I convey greetings to luminaries from across the world who are participating in today's session of the World Economic Forum. As I speak to you today, India is fighting cautiously and vigilantly a new wave of the COVID pandemic at the same time. On the economic front as well, India is moving forward with many results that give us hope. Today, India is not only full of enthusiasm about it being the 75th anniversary of its independence, but is also infused with self-confidence, having administered 1.6 billion vaccine doses in just one year. Friends, a strong democracy like India has given the entire world a gift, a beautiful gift. It has given the world a bouquet of hope. This bouquet has the unwavering faith of us Indians in democracy. This bouquet has technology to empower the 21st century. This bouquet has the temperament of Indians and the talent of Indians. The multilingual, multicultural environment that we Indians live in is a very big strength, not just for India, but for the entire world. This strength teaches us to not just think of ourselves in times of crisis, but to work in the world's best interest. During the COVID pandemic, we have seen how in keeping with the one earth, one health vision, India has saved millions of lives by sending essential medicines and vaccines to several countries today. India is the third largest producer of pharmaceutical products in the world. It is pharmacy to the world. Today, India is among those countries in the world where doctors and health professionals are winning everyone's trust thanks to their sensitiveness and expertise. Friends, sensitiveness can be assessed during a time of crisis. However, India's capabilities are at this time an example for the entire world. It is during this crisis that India's IT sector has worked day and night to save all the countries of the world from a very difficult situation. Today, India sends out a record number of software engineers into the world. Over five million software developers are working in India. Today, India has the third largest number of unicorns in the world. Over 10,000 startups have been registered in the last six months. Today, India has one of the world's biggest secure and successful digital payments platforms. If I just speak about the last one month, over 4.4 billion transactions have taken place on India's United Payments interface. Friends, the digital infrastructure developed and adopted by India in the last few years has today become a great strength of India. Technological solutions such as the Arogya Setu app for tracking COVID infections the COVID portal for vaccination are a matter of pride for India. The online facility that India's COVID portal gives us for everything from booking slots for vaccination to generating certificates has attracted the attention of people from many developed countries. Friends, there was a time when India's identity was its licensed rule. The government controlled most things. I understand all the challenges that have been related to doing business in India. We are making continuous efforts to solve each of these challenges. Today, India is promoting the ease of doing business. It is bringing government intervention down to the minimum by simplifying and reducing its corporate tax rates. India has made them the most competitive in the world. In just the last year, we have done away with over 25,000 compliances by carrying out reforms related to retrospective taxes. We have been able to regain the confidence of the business community. Several sectors such as drones, space, geospatial mapping have also been deregulated. Big reforms have been carried out in India in the area of outdated telecom regulations related to the ITU and BPO sectors. Friends, India is committed to becoming a trusted partner for the world in the area of global supply chains. We are working with several countries on creating paths to free trade agreements with them. The capacity Indians have for innovation and their ability to adopt new technology. The spirit of enterprise can energize each of our global partners. It is therefore the best time to invest in India. Entrepreneurship among India's youth has today reached new heights. Whereas in 2014, there were just a couple of hundred registered startups in India. Today, their number has grossed 60,000. Among them, there are over 80 unicorns of which over 40 were created just in 2021. Just as expat Indians are demonstrating their skills on the global stage, the same way. Friends, Indian youth are totally ready and eager to work with you to take your businesses to new heights in India. Friends, India's commitment to deep economic reforms is another big reason why today India has remained the most attractive destination for investment. During the COVID pandemic, while the world was focusing on interventions such as quantitative easing programs, India was strengthening the path to reforms. The biggest projects to modernize digital and physical infrastructure were given unprecedented impetus during the COVID pandemic itself. Over 600,000 villages in the country are being connected through optical fiber. We are investing in particular $1.3 trillion on connectivity-related infrastructure. We have set ourselves the target of generating $80 billion through innovative financing tools such as asset monetization for our development. In order to bring all stakeholders on one platform, India has also started the Gatisakti National Master Plan. Under this national master plan, we are working in an integrated manner on infrastructure planning, development, and implementation. This will also give new impetus to seamless connectivity for the movement of goods, people, and services. Friends, India that is on the path to self-reliance is focusing not only on making processes easier, but also on incentivizing investment and production. It is following this approach that today, production-linked incentive schemes valued at $26 billion have been implemented in 14 sectors. Our $10 billion investment plan to build the fab, ship, and display industry shows how committed we are to making global supply chain smooth. We are moving forward with our resolve to make in India and make for the world. Today, apart from in telecom, insurance, defense, aerospace sectors, there are unlimited possibilities in the area of semiconductors as well. Friends, today, India is making policies and taking decisions not only for the present, but keeping in mind our targets for the next 25 years. During this period, India has set targets for high growth and welfare and wellness for all. This period of growth will be green, it will be clean, it will be sustainable, and it will be reliable as well. In keeping with our tradition of making big commitments for global good and fulfilling them, we have set ourselves the target of achieving net zero emissions by 2070.