What Prime Minister Modi Sees As The Three Biggest Challenges Confronting The World Today
Prime Minister Narendra Modi highlighted three challenges that the world was faced with today, at the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland – climate change, terrorism and protectionism. These challenges, the Prime Minister said, “pose the greatest threat to the survival of human civilization”.
In a special address at the summit, Prime Minister Modi discussed the state of affairs in each of these areas. “We are seeing the impact of extreme weather conditions,” he said in reference to the receding glaciers, melting ice caps and other erratic and unpredictable climactic patterns we have been witnessing across the globe in the recent years.
The Indian leader also pulled no punches in calling out the developed countries who, he says, could do a lot more to help mitigate the effects of climate change.
Everyone talks about reducing carbon emissions but there are very few people or countries who back their words with their resources to help developing countries to adopt appropriate technology. Very few of them come forward to help.Prime Minister Narendra Modi
The Prime Minister then described the steps India was taking in its fight against climate change despite the challenges. “By the year 2022, in India we want to produce 175 gigawatts of renewable energy. This is a very big target for a country like India.”
With respect to terrorism, Prime Minister Modi was quick to highlight two worrying aspects that he has addressed several times before – the distinction between “good” and “bad” terrorists and the radicalisation of educated, “well-to-do” youth.
“I hope that this forum will discuss solutions to the fault lines created by terrorism and violence,” he said.
Next, the opposition to globalisation. At a time when protectionism is finding favour among some of the developed, Western countries – Donald Trump-led United States, no less, India raised the alarm bells on this avoidance, nay, reversal, of globalisation. “It feels like the opposite of globalization is happening. The negative impact of this kind of mind-set and wrong priorities cannot be considered less dangerous than climate change or terrorism,” he said.
The forces of protectionism are raising their heads against globalization. Their intention is not just to avoid globalization, but to reverse its natural flow.Prime Minister Narendra Modi
“Understanding and accepting change” and not “isolation” is the way out of this swing against globalisation, said Prime Minister Modi.