All democratic nations must work together so crypto-currency does not end up in wrong hands, says PM Modi
Prime Minister Narendra Modi today delivered the keynote at the inaugural Sydney Dialogue. “It is a great honour for the people of India that you have invited me to. I see this as a recognition of India’s central role in the Indo Pacific region and in the emerging digital world,” said PM in his address.
He stated how the digital age is changing everything around us. “It has redefined politics, economy and society. It is raising new questions on sovereignty, governance, ethics, law, rights and security. It is reshaping international competition, power and leadership”.
Discussing widely popular cryptocurrency, PM said, “Essential for democracies to work together…It should also recognise national rights&promote trade, investment & larger public good. Take crypto-currency or bitcoin for example. It is important that all democratic nations work together on this and ensure it does not end up in wrong hands, which can spoil our youth.”
In his address, the PM highlighted five important transitions taking place in India. He said, “One, we are building the world’s most extensive public information infrastructure. Over 1.3 billion Indians have a unique digital identity. We are on our way to connect six hundred thousand villages with broadband.”
Two, we are transforming the lives of the people by using digital technology for governance, inclusion, empowerment, connectivity, delivery of benefits and welfare. Three, India has the world’s third-largest and fastest-growing Startup Ecosystem. New unicorns are coming up every few weeks. They are providing solutions to everything from health and education to national security, said PM.
Four, India’s industry and services sectors, even agriculture, are undergoing massive digital transformation. We are also using digital technology for clean energy transition, conservation of resources and protection of biodiversity. Five, there is a large effort to prepare India for the future. We are investing in developing indigenous capabilities in telecom technology such as 5G and 6G, PM added.
Talking about technology and India’s technological achievements, PM said, “The greatest product of technology today is data. In India, we have created a robust framework of data protection, privacy and security. And, at the same time, we use data as a source of empowerment of people”.
“India’s IT talent helped to create the global digital economy. It helped cope with the Y2K problem. It has contributed to the evolution of technologies and services we use in our daily lives. Today, we offered our CoWin platform to the entire world free and made it open source software,” he added.
