BHUBANESWAR: External Affairs minister S Jaishankar on Wednesday asserted that India has moved from the attitude of ‘chalta hai’ to ‘hoga kaise nahin’ as its makes rapid strides towards becoming Viksit Bharat by 2047.
Inaugurating the Youth Pravasi Bharatiya Divas 2025 here along with Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi, Jaishankar said the younger generation have a key role to play in the endeavour for Viksit Bharat. He said this is period when the youth will come to the front ranks of the society and lead the nation. “A large part of our efforts is to give the right motivation to the younger generation to accelerate their efforts,” he said.
He said, while development itself is a very complex task, it becomes much easier when there is confidence that nothing is beyond us. “I still recall some time ago an observation by the famous badminton star, PV Sindhu, on why Prime Minister Modi is a youth icon. She summed it up as his attitude which moved our nation from ‘chalta hai’ to ‘badal sakta hai’ to ‘hoga kaise nahin’,” the EAM said.
Citing some examples, he said during the Covid pandemic, India demonstrated remarkable resilience and strong recovery thereafter. “I remember working with Mansukhbhai (Mansukh Mandaviya), the Health minister during that period. The very country that was predicted to go under, ended up supplying vaccines and medicines to the entire world,” he said.
The EAM said India was on its way to address longstanding challenges to build modern, inclusive and a progressive society. As propounded by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the mantra of that journey is to advance on the two legs of technology and tradition. The youth would be the defining factor in the pace of that endeavour and the realization of the goals, he said.
Speaking on the fast-paced transformation of the country driven by youth power, he said, the New India, with 90,000 startups and 100 plus unicorns, has calling cards like Drone Didi, Atal tinkering labs, hackathons, green hydrogen mission or nano-fertilizers. Many key developments in the world are being shaped by the younger generation, be it artificial intelligence (AI) and electric vehicle (EV), innovations, startups, space, drones and sports like chess and cricket, he said.
Majhi calls upon diaspora to be ambassadors of Brand Odisha
“This is all the more reason for a customary youth convention as part of the PBD celebrations,” he said adding, ‘the idea of holding a conclave for the youth is to recognise the special contributions of young minds at home and abroad.’
Making a strong plea to the Indian diaspora for promoting India as a tourist destination, Jaishankar said, “If young Indian PIOs bring their equally young friends from abroad to explore our uniquely rich and diverse heritage and culture, this will surely become a lifelong habit.”
Welcoming the India diaspora to Odisha, CM Majhi requested them to explore the nature’s secrets in the state and take a little bit of Odisha along with them. “Odisha is a treasure trove of history, culture and natural beauty. I extend an open invitation to reconnect with your roots and rediscover the magic of our state,” he said.
The CM further said, “We also value the role of the diaspora in promoting Brand Odisha globally. You are our ambassadors bridging cultures and creating opportunities for Odisha on the world stage.” Union minister for Youth Affairs & Sports, Dr Mansukh Mandaviya, Union minister of state for External Affairs Pabitra Margherita, Union minister of state, Youth Affairs & Sports, Raksha Nikhil Khadse and CEO and co-founder, Newsweek from USA, Dev Pragad were present.