PM calls protectionism as dangerous as terrorism

PM calls protectionism as dangerous as terrorism

Context

Sending out a strong message against protectionism and inward-focused economic policies, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said such tendencies can be as dangerous as terrorism and climate change as he pitched for creating a “heaven of freedom.”

At World Economic Forum’s annual summit in Davos, he decries new trade barriers.

• Modi, who became the first Indian Prime Minister to address the World Economic Forum’s annual summit here in two decades, also talked terrorism, a major grave concern facing the world.
• What was worse was people saying there was a difference between ‘good’ and ‘bad’ terror. It was painful to see some youngsters getting radicalised, he said.

India as an investment destination

In an almost hour-long speech in Hindi, he sought to hard sell India as an investment destination, saying those wanting wealth with wellness and peace with prosperity should come to the country.

‘Heaven of freedom’

“Let us create a ‘heaven of freedom’, where there is cooperation and not division, fractures,” he said.

Protectionism

• Protectionism is rearing its ugly head and there is risk of new tariff and non-tariff barriers coming up, the Prime Minister said, as he mentioned that division was not the solution to this problem of anti-globalisation.
• While noting that in an interconnected world, globalisation was losing its lustre, he wondered, “Do global organisations created after the Second World War really reflect the aspirations and dreams of mankind today? With respect to the developing countries there is a very big gap.”