India had stemmed the slide backwards in the first 100 days of his Government, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Friday.
“We are now in a stable position, now we have to move forward on the runway,” Mr. Modi said in an interaction with Japanese media. The country would soon be in a position to scale new heights, he felt.
Stressing that India had passed the hour of crisis already, the Prime Minister said a number of initiatives had been taken in the fields of labour reforms, financial inclusion, skill development as well as 49 per cent FDI in defence and a proposal to raise the cap on FDI in insurance as well.
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Asked why India’s GDP growth had fallen below five per cent, Mr. Modi pointed to two reasons – the global economic slowdown as well as political instability in the country.
“The best thing was that this time, the people of India had voted for development and given a decisive mandate,” the Prime Minister said.
Mr. Modi, who leaves on Saturday for Japan, said both countries had a stable government with a clear mandate in power, a transcript of the interaction stated.
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The Prime Minister said he was “eager” to meet with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and had great regard for him and the people of Japan. His first bilateral trip would be a meeting with Mr. Abe, the Prime Minister pointed out.
“In the economic field, I see a lot of complementary and synergy between the goals of Abenomics and what I am trying to achieve in India. Japan will always remain our preferred economic partner,” he said.
The Prime Minister was hopeful that there would be “concrete cooperation” in the fields of civil nuclear energy, defence and high-speed rail cooperation during his visit.