New Delhi, Jan 14 (PTI) Prime Minister Narendra Modi,accompanied by several ministers and business leaders, willencapsulate making of 'a new, young and innovative India' whenhe addresses the rich and powerful from across the world atthe snow-laden Swiss resort town of Davos later this month.
In his first appearance at the WEF Annual Meeting --being held this year with a theme of 'Creating a shared futurein a fractured world' -- Modi is also expected to talk abouthis experience with 'cooperative federalism' in India, whileurging the world for a collective crackdown on terrorism,economic imbalances, cyber threats and various societal ills.
Sources familiar with the draft programme of varioussessions of the 48th Annual Meeting of the World EconomicForum (WEF) said the Indian leaders, including Modi, will alsotalk about numerous steps they have taken to make it easier todo business in India, check corruption, clamp down on blackmoney, streamline taxation and boost sustainable growth.
Adding further star power, Bollywood king Shahrukh Khan,for a change, would not be seen serenading heroines with hissignature 'open-arm' charm on Swiss Alps, but will rathertalk about creating a change in India through womenempowerment.
Another star speaker will be ex-RBI Governor RaghuramRajan, who has been praised as well as criticised often forhis vocal views on everything from politics to economics andis credited for predicting the global economic crisis of 2008.
He will speak on the power of economic narratives and howpolicymakers can address the challenges of the 21st century.
The final programme of the five-day event, startingJanuary 22, will be unveiled on Tuesday by Geneva-based WEF,which describes itself as an international public-privateorganisation working to improve state of the world and hasbeen hosting the confab every year in Davos.
Modi is being seen as one of the biggest stars this year,with US President Donald Trump being the other. Thosescheduled to attend the powwow also include UK's Theresa May,Canada's Justin Trudeau, France's Emmanuel Macron, Pakistan'sShahid Khaqan Abbasi, Jordan's King Abdullah and Queen Rania,Brazil's Michel Temer and Switzerland's Alain Berset.
This will be Modi's first Davos visit and also the firstby an Indian Prime Minister since the one by H D Deve Gowda in1997. In case of Trump, he will be the first US President toattend since Bill Clinton in 2000.
As many as six union ministers, two chief ministers, over100 CEOs and several other high-profile attendees from Indiawill be hobnobbing with their counterparts from across theworld, while over 3,000 global elite at their annual jamboreewould be served Indian cuisine including desi 'chai-samosa'and several Gujarati dishes, among those from various otherstates, at the opening night welcome reception.
As per the draft programme, Modi will deliver the openingplenary on January 23. A day before, he will have a bilateralmeeting with Swiss President Berset. Modi is expected to haveother bilaterals as well and will also meet global CEOs.
Among other Indian leaders, Finance Minister Arun Jaitleywill have several engagements and will also speak at a sessionon 'India's role in the world', talking about how thepolitical changes, structural reforms and technologyinnovations are changing the country's socio-economic context.
Union Minister Jitendra Singh will speak at a session on'From fragile cities to renewal', while Piyush Goyal will talkon 'post-establishment politics' and how a new generation ofpolitical leaders has swept into governments and parliamentsaround the world. Goyal will also speak on disaster resiliencein infrastructure and on 'designing for smart mobility'.
Industry Minister Suresh Prabhu is expected to meet hiscounterparts from other countries and discuss the WTO-relatedissues, among other engagements, while Dharmendra Pradhan willtalk about value-chain innovations that can help theindustries and governments unlock economic and societal value.
M J Akbar, Minister of State for External Affairs, willspeak on nuclear threats to international security, as also onsecuring peace and stability in the Asian century.
Among other Indian participants, Department of IndustrialPolicy and Promotion Secretary Ramesh Abhishek will talk aboutthe Asian innovation ecosystem, while NITI Aayog CEO AmitabhKant will talk about the use of big data in policy making andon implementing strategies for inclusive growth.
Chief Ministers Devendra Fadnavis (Maharasthra) and NChandrababu Naidu (Andhra Pradesh), as also Telangana ministerK T Rama Rao will talk about investment attractiveness oftheir respective states, while the Indian CEOs, led byindustry body CII, would be also pitching the India growthstory in addition to exploring potential business deals.
This will be the first time that India will host thewelcome reception, where yoga will also be showcased alongwith cuisine from across the country.
The prominent Indian businessmen would include GautamAdani, Mukesh Ambani with wife Nita, Rahul Bajaj with sonSanjiv, N Chandrasekaran with a host of Tata group executives,Chanda Kochhar, Uday Kotak, Naresh Goyal, Anand Mahindra,Sajjan Jindal, Salil Parekh, Sunil Mittal with son Kavin,Salil Parekh, Azim Premji, Ravi Ruia and Prashant Ruia.
Besides, several Indian-origin global leaders will bepresent, including Lakshmi Mittal and son Aditya, Indra Nooyiand Sundar Pichai, who will talk about the age of artificialintelligence, future of the open web and the technology'simpact on society. PepsiCo's Nooyi will pitch for urgent stepsneeded to be taken towards better capitalism. PTI BJABM.
This is unedited, unformatted feed from the Press Trust of India wire.