New World Order Emerging After Pandemic, Big Role For India, Says PM Modi

PM Modi said India will rise to the opportunities created by the coronavirus pandemic.

A new world order will take shape after the coronavirus pandemic and India will have a major role to play in it, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Saturday at a meeting of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) which governs at the centre.

"Addressing the meeting of NDA leaders, Prime Minister Shri @NarendraModi ji today said that after the pandemic, a new world order is about to take shape & India has a big role to play in the emerging new world order," Union Minister of Parliamentary Affairs Pralhad Joshi tweeted.

"He said this decade is a very important one, just like the decade after 2nd world war, unlike earlier, we are not going to be a mute spectator. We will rise to the occasion based on our traditions and ideals of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam, the Prime Minister added," Mr Joshi wrote.

Last week, PM Modi hailed India's response to the coronavirus pandemic as among the best in the world and said the country's role as the biggest vaccine-maker, critical for a disease-free world, has earned it a lot of goodwill.

The pandemic has also seen the Prime Minister renew plans for making India a hub of manufacturing and enterprise and become self-reliant with the government's project of "Aatmanirbhar Bharat".

In a boost for the idea, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Tuesday projected an 11.5 per cent growth rate for India in 2021, making the country the only major economy of the world to register double-digit growth this year amidst the coronavirus pandemic.

However, not all of PM Modi's visions for the new world order are likely to crystallise smoothly.

Speaking at the UN General Assembly last September, PM Modi made the most forceful push yet for a more Indian prominent role in the UN Security Council - the global body's highest decision-making forum, asking "Till when do we have to wait? Till when will India be kept away from the UN's decision-making process?"

That pitch could face friction with US President Joe Biden's pick for the ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, this week not explicitly committing the support of the new administration for India to be a permanent member of the Security Council.

The stand appeared to turn the clock back on those of the three previous administrations, that of George W Bush, Barack Obama and Donald Trump, which had publicly said that the United States supports India's bid to be a permanent member of the UN Security Council.