India now a key member of BRICS, says Modi

Modi invited Indians settled abroad to come and invest in the country, saying the mood and the perception about India had changed in the last one year.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Monday that the Indian economy had started looking up after his government took over.

Addressing the Indian diaspora during a community reception at the Kyung Hee University here, he referred to economic experts saying that in the five-member BRICS grouping India was struggling but since last year things had changed.

“Since the last one year, the world is now saying that I [India] is an important segment of BRICS and the grouping cannot be imagined without I [India],” said Mr. Modi, who arrived here from Mongolia on the last leg of his three-nation tour.

Pitches for ‘Make in India’ He pitched for his ‘Make in India’ initiative and said that he wants to make India a manufacturing hub using the world’s best technology. He invited Indians settled abroad to come and invest in the country, saying the mood and the perception about India had changed in the last one year. “There was a time when people left India saying the country is of no good. These people are ready to come back. The mood has changed,” the Prime Minister said, adding that India is being seen as the fastest growing economy of the world.

Drawing on ancient linkages between the two countries, he invoked the legendary Korean King Suro, who is believed to have married an Indian princess from Ayodhya centuries ago.

Meets Ban Ki-moon

Mr. Modi met U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon here and discussed key global issues with him.

“Discussed key global issues during the wonderful meeting with @UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon,” he tweeted. Mr. Ban is a South Korean national.

Gangnam style At a banquet hosted in his honour by South Korean President Park Geun-hye, Mr. Modi said: “Our destinies are linked with the future of Asia and the Pacific. We will prosper when the region is peaceful and our sea lanes are secure and free. We know that we must be secure in our cyber world and safe in our physical world.”

He said Korea was part of India’s daily life with Indian people using Korean phones, cars, computers and games. “When cricketers in India celebrate their victory in Gangnam style, you know that Korea is now firmly on Indian minds and limbs,” he said in a lighter vein.