Paris: In his Thursday addresses to the Indian diaspora, Prime Minister Narendra Modi called India a "model of diversity" and announced an agreement for the use of UPI in France, a major new market for the Indian breakthrough in cashless rapid payment.
During his nearly hour-long speech at the La Seine Musicale, a performing arts centre on an island in the river Seine, Modi outlined India's rapid development and asserted that while the world is moving towards a new order, India's strength and role are also changing very quickly. In this regard, he cited India's current presidency of the G20 and the positive impression it has made around the world. Modi told an upbeat crowd that Indian students pursuing master's degrees in France will now be eligible for employment permits that last for five years after they finish their programmes, and he also announced the creation of a new Indian consulate in Marseille. He praised India for being a beacon of pluralism and freedom, calling it "the mother of democracy." He emphasised this point by saying that the country has over 32,000 newspapers and 900 news stations in over 100 different languages (including Tamil, the world's oldest living language).
He argued that the country's citizens' ability to work together despite their differences was one of India's greatest strengths as a democracy.—Inputs from Agencies