“I want India to become capital of South East Asia…” PM Modi

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed that he would want India to be the capital of South East Asia, and emphasised that India’s progress poses no threat to anyone and as India progresses, the burden of the world reduces.
In an interview with Republic TV, PM Modi shared his vision for India and asked why can’t India be the capital of South East Asia.
“Now I want India to be the capital of South East Asia and why shouldn’t we have that attitude? Why should all the countries of the world not feel like joining us?,” he said.
PM Modi said that Kolkata and Guwahati can become very big centres.
“We are so physically close, that our Guwahati or our Kolkata can become very big centres. Why don’t I make my Kolkata a big attractive place for the whole of South East Asia? I think in that direction and I feel that India’s progress poses no threat to anyone,” he shared.
Emphasising that the world feels good when India becomes strong, PM Modi said that the world’s burden reduces as India progresses.
“Today, when India becomes strong, the world is not worried, the world feels good. As India progresses, the burden of the world is reducing,” PM Modi added.
He further shared India’s achievements including the increased GDP as well as the per capita income.
“Now the change we have brought when we built toilets, people feel that the number of toilets in the world has improved, we are increasing the GDP, we are increasing the per capita income and we are doing solar energy,” PM Modi said.
Underlining that India is affecting the world rankings positively, PM Modi stressed that India is a “mine of opportunities”.
“So we are affecting the world rankings positively. So the world likes India, the world feels that if India performs, we will get a positive vibe globally and these days you must have seen everyone saying don’t look here and there. India is a mine of opportunities,” he noted.
“Everyone in the world tells the youth of their countries and their companies that India is a mine of opportunities,” PM Modi added.
Noting that India made Africa a G20 member last year, he said “We have given the initiative, we have focused on the Global South, and we are focusing as a big player.”
He said that India is not just a spectator of the game.
“We are not becoming spectators of the game on the sidelines and that is us. We are doing this by helping them, being useful to them and connecting with them and we, our people, feel like there is a natural alignment,” he said.
Responding to a question that in the future, pressure will increase a lot on PM Modi individually, he said that earlier, India’s approach was on how much difference we have with other nations, but now, our approach is based on the proximity with these nations.
“We thought we would maintain this much difference from it. But then I said, that this would not be our approach. Our approach will be how close we will be to each other. Earlier, the criteria were based on distance, but my criteria were based on closeness…So I brought up the topic of proximity,” he said.
He further emphasised that today, there is competition within countries globally as to how to get closer to India.
“The nations are thinking, I am with Modi, I am with India and my opponent is there, I should go a little further. So today there is competition in the world as to how to get closer to India,” he said.
“It might seem like a play on words, but is not; the whole process changes with it,” PM Modi added.