He said he had a special appreciation for “his friend” Putin for steering the India-Russia friendship to greater heights over the last two decades.As prime minister, he said it was his sixth visit to Russia and the two leaders have met 17 times during this period.”All these meetings have added to our mutual trust and respect,” he said, praising Putin for helping the evacuation of Indian students during the war.He expressed gratitude to the Russian leader and Russian citizens for this.To the applause from the audience, Modi announced that India will open two new consulates in Russia to boost travel and trade between the two countries.Recalling the celebrated Hindi song ‘Sar pe lal topi Rusi, phir bhi dil hai Hindustani’ picturized on Raj Kapoor, he said it may be an old number but its sentiments remain evergreen. He also mentioned Mithun Chakraborty, another Indian actor who earned a big following in Russia, as he spoke about the deep cultural ties between the two countries.Modi said India was undergoing a transformation and the pace of development over the past 10 years has taken the world by surprise.Even the world now acknowledges what he used to say during his poll campaign that the 21st century belongs to India, he added.The fast pace of India’s development will write a “new chapter” in the world’s progress, he said.He said India was changing as it believes in the strength of its 140 crore citizens, who are now dreaming of turning their resolve of Viksit Bharat’ into reality. “Today’s India is brimming with self-confidence, unlike the situation before 2014, when the country was sunk in despair, and this is our biggest capital,” Modi said.In this context, he mentioned India’s win in the T20 World Cup and added that India’s teams in different sports were giving a historic performance.”The youth India of today does not concede defeat till the last ball and the last moment,” he said, adding that the country is sending a strong team for the Paris Olympics and its athletes will show their mettle. When people like you bless us, even the biggest goals can be achieved. You all know that today’s India achieves whatever goal it sets its mind to,” he said.He said it was in his DNA to challenge all the challenges and India will write a new chapter of global growth in coming years.Modi said it was exactly a month ago that he took oath as prime minister for the third consecutive term, when he had made the resolve to work at thrice the strength and speed to fulfil the aspirations of the country.”Our government envisions making India the world’s third-largest economy, building three crore homes for the poor and turning three crore poor women in villages into ‘lakhpati didi’,” the prime minister said amid chants of ‘Modi, Modi’ and ‘Modi hai toh mumkin hai’.He said India was the country that sent Chandrayaan to a place on the moon where no country has gone before and has given the work the most reliable model for digital transactions.”India’s development of the past 10 years was just a trailer, we will see much faster growth in the next 10 years,” Modi asserted.The Indian diaspora takes pride in the country’s achievements, he added.
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