 "India has tremendous social strengths, including pluralism: PM Modi in The Economist")
With protests over the spread of intolerance raging in the country, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has written about India’s pluralism and social strength. Adam Roberts, The Economist's Europe business correspondent, posted on micro blogging site Twitter: “Modi in The Economist: 'India has tremendous social strengths, including pluralism...'. This is part of the special edition of The Economist called "The World in 2016".
Modi recently faced protests over alleged suppression of freedom of expression during his UK visit last week. Back home, the PM is facing opposition from eminent litterateurs and public intellectuals over alleged spread of intolerance.
This is the second time in the past 10 days that Modi has stressed on India’s history of tolerance. While addressing a gathering of the British-Indian Community at the Wembley Stadium during his UK visit, Modi had said that India's immense diversity is its speciality, pride and strength.
Similarly on being asked about rising intolerance in the presence of British Prime Minister David Cameron, Modi had invoked the legacy of India as the land of Buddha and Gandhi and emphasized that its culture does not accept anything that is against the basic social values.
Modi, whose government is about to complete 18 months, has also touched upon the challenges of meeting the high expectations of the people. He is said to have written, according to Roberts, " There is a sense of great expectation from our government. Inevitably, some of these expectations run ahead of us."
Modi’s piece will feature along with articles from the likes of IMF Chief Christine Lagarde, Uber co-founder Travis Kalanick and education activist Malala Yousafza
Robert’s tweets add that Modi has also conceded that India’s economic growth is likely to have some amount of impact on the environment.