Youth to power nation's rise over next 25 years: PM Modi

The potential of India's youth will soon make India a developed nation, said Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday as he emphasised the crucial role of the youth in shaping the country’s future over the next 25 years. He was addressing the Viksit Bharat Young Leaders Dialogue 2025 on the occasion of National Youth Day commemorating Swami Vivekananda’s 163rd birth anniversary.

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Sharing his vision of a developed India and emphasising its economic, strategic, social, and cultural strength, the Prime Minister remarked that in a developed India, both the economy and ecology would flourish, offering numerous opportunities for good education and income.

PM highlights ambitious goals

* PM Narendra Modi on Sunday highlighted that India was the first country to meet the Paris Agreement commitments, nine years ahead of schedule

* He highlighted the youth's achievements in bringing India to the top three in the startup world, elevating Digital India globally and excelling in sports

* He stressed the ambitious goals of hosting the Olympics in the next decade, establishing a space station by 2035 and becoming a five trillion-dollar economy

Modi said if Swami Vivekananda were among us today, he would be filled with new confidence upon witnessing the awakened power and active efforts of the 21st-century youth. 

Recalling the G-20 event hosted in Bharat Mandapam, he said: “The world leaders were at the same venue to discuss the future of the world while today the youth of India were charting the roadmap for the next 25 years of India.”

The Prime Minister cited global examples where nations with big dreams achieved their goals. Citing the example of the 1930s economic crisis in the USA, he said the Americans chose the New Deal and not only overcame the crisis but also accelerated their development. He also mentioned Singapore, which faced basic life crises but transformed into a global financial and trade hub through discipline and collective effort. 

The Prime Minister said India had similar examples, such as the freedom struggle and overcoming the food crisis after Independence.

“Setting big goals and achieving them within a timeframe is not impossible. Without a clear goal, nothing can be achieved, and today's India is working with this mindset. Over the past decade, India resolved to become open defecation-free, and within 60 months, 60 crore citizens achieved this goal. Nearly every family in India now has access to banking services, and over 100 million gas connections have been provided to free women's kitchens from smoke,” he said.

Modi underscored the role played by Indian scientists in developing vaccines during Covid pandemic.

“During the COVID-19 pandemic, while the world struggled for vaccines, Indian scientists developed a vaccine ahead of time. Despite predictions that it would take 3-4 years to vaccinate everyone in India, the country conducted the world's largest vaccination campaign in record time,” he said.

The Prime Minister noted that India now has 23 Indian Institute of Technology (IITs), and in the past decade, the number of Indian Institute of Information Technology (IIITs) has increased from 9 to 25, and the number of Indian Institute of Management (IIMs) also shot up from 13 to 21.