With its theme of ‘Time of Transformation’, the Republic Summit third edition, held on 25th and 26th April became the centre for a dynamic discussion on how India is treading fast on the path of development, be it economically, socially, or politically. With a diverse line-up of speakers from a variety of sectors with immense knowledge, interesting discussions took place on the first day, 25th April, and the cascade continued on the second day with even more enthusiasm as the Chief Guest at the event was none other than the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi.
Day 2 of the event began with Union Minister of Railways, Ashwini Vaishnaw, who addressing the gathering, talked about the ‘world-class’ Vande Bharat trains and how India has transformed into an aspirational nation. He further mentioned that the Vande Bharat trains will soon be launched in Chair, Metro, and Sleeper format. About the PM, he said, “PM Modi believes India will be a developed nation, and firmly opines that India will be a superpower one day.
This was followed by the next session by India’s G20 Sherpa, Amitabh Kant. Kant focused on how India has grown despite the pandemic hitting and the country’s G20 presidency. He further said, “India’s focus has been on accelerating the growth pace and overcoming the impact of the pandemic spread”. Hailing India’s G20 presidency, Kant stated that it will be a big vision for the world in terms of digital transformation and climate change.
The lineup of speakers included AIMIM Chief Asaduddin Owaisi, who said that he does not support political secularism, but follows Constitutional secularism.
Next in line was Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, who, touching upon the topic of UCC, said that it was the responsibility of the BJP to implement the same, and it was something the government owes to the Muslim women of this country. Talking about the north east region of India, he said how it has transformed as it is now well connected with the other parts of the country and because there have been drastic changes as far as the curbing of separatist forces are concerned.
Also speaking at the event was Union Minister of Information and Broadcasting, Anurag Thakur, who revealed that the BBC has accepted that it has violated FDI rules after a notice was issued to it by the government. Talking about the Delhi liquor scam, he said that Manish Sisodia might be a culprit but Arvind Kejriwal is the ‘kingpin’ of the scam. Thakur also revealed the ministry’s plans for OTT regulation and how he has called a meeting with all the stakeholders the next week.
This session was followed by that of Union Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas, and Housing and Urban Affairs, Hardeep Singh Puri, he said, regarding the transformation of India, that now India matters more to the world and it is steadily rising as an independent country whose voice is being noticed and heard. Union Minister of Minority Affairs, Smriti Irani, said that it was the Congress’ legacy to think that minorities always need to be segregated. “An Indian cannot be a minority in their own country”, she stated.
She further stated that she wants to ensure all Indians are equal under the law.
Akhilesh Yadav, former CM of UP said that there should not be discrimination in dealing with the mafia. Mentioning how he is against the mafia, Yadav stated that there should not be a good or a bad mafia. Speaking against the UP government of BJP, he said that most of the work of development in the state was done by the SP and BSP governments.
Union Minister of Road and Transport, Nitin Gadkari, said that world-class infrastructure is being developed by the government. Talking about how India can become competitive in the world market, he said that if we have to become the same, the logistic cost has to be reduced, for which good roads are to be made. He vowed to resolve the traffic jam problem in Delhi before the end of 2024.
In his session at the summit, leading strategist S Gurumurthy emphasized how it was important to develop a national strategic narrative for India because the world order is changing rapidly. Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju said that the central government has given the maximum space and respect to the judiciary.
Being the Chief Guest of the event, PM Modi mentioned how India recovered while other world economies were struggling and has now even moved forward and faster. For the first time, he added, the poor of the country have got security as well as dignity.
