New Delhi: Spotlighting India’s phenomenal rise over the last 10 years, External Affairs Minister (EAM) S. Jaishankar in December said that Indian democracy has delivered in the country’s eighth decade of independence. “We are more aspirational, more ambitious, more capable and confident. But, most of all, we are an India that is more Bharat. You can see it today, that in our eighth decade of our independence, democracy has actually been delivered,” Jaishankar said after receiving the ‘India First’ award from AMG Media Network CEO and Editor-in-Chief Sanjay Pugalia at NDTV’s ‘Indian of the Year’ ceremony.

The EAM stated that India is far more representative today with success not just being “elitist” or “metropolitan” and every walk of life - and every part of India - now having that equality of opportunity. “When I say democracy has delivered, I just don’t mean that our elections are better than everyone else’s. They are, but what I mean is that when you look at our politics, civil services, sports teams, and journalists, we are today far more representative as a selection of people than we have ever been before,” he mentioned.

Lauding Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s strong commitment to modernise India, the EAM said that there is a “degree of energy and sense of purpose” in the current government. Having worked with several governments, first as a diplomat and then as a Minister, Jaishankar said this is a “good moment” to be the External Affairs Minister of India. “Having a PM who is prepared to do the reforms we should, not just the reforms we must. I can tell you that every week when the Cabinet meets, if you look at the decisions that are taken and the policy implications that they have, it is really an extraordinary period in our national lives,” the EAM said.

Highlighting India’s growth story, the External Affairs Minister also detailed journey from the early 90s to now, when the country is on its way to become a leading global economic power. “In 1991-92, we were a $250 billion economy with trade of $40 billion. Today, we are a $4 trillion economy with a trade of $80 billion. Think about it, I’m throwing these numbers at you as it is a way of measuring how much more we are dealing with the world and how much we matter to the world.”

The EAM reiterated that foreign policy has now become more relevant than ever before to Indian society and Indians are now aspiring towards a ‘Viksit Bharat’ - a developed India - a feeling which was missing 10 years ago. “This is today a ‘can-do’ generation, a generation that has done the Chandrayaan, a generation which was probably the most efficient producer and inventor of vaccines during Covid...Which has produced its telecom technology, our own 5G technology, a generation which today produces its own trains like Vande Bharat...”

Taking an indirect dig at the Congress-led UPA government over its response following the 2008 Mumbai 26/11 terror attacks, the EAM told the gathering that the country now knows it well how to give it back to those promoting terrorism from across the border. “In the past, India left 26/11 unanswered, but today we answered Pakistan with Uri and Balakot,” he said before wrapping up his speech at the NDTV ‘Indian of the Year’ awards ceremony.