Davos, Jan 19 (PTI) India seized its moment and presented itself as a 'trusted nation and resilient economy' here at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2024 that ended on Friday, with a call for cooperation for rebuilding trust, reviving economy, ending geopolitical conflicts and fighting risks emanating from climate change, societal fragmentation and AI-generated misinformation and disinformation.
The five-day-long intense discussions over a long list of global and regional issues among nearly 3,000 global leaders in this Swiss ski resort town on Alps coincided with incessant snowfall and drizzles, pushing temperature down to as low as minus 20 degree celsius, but ended on a bright sunny afternoon, adding to hopes that the global economy and trade would do better in 2024 and there would be answers to multiple crises plaguing the world.
Amid all the gloom, India stood out with a strong assertion by three Union ministers as also by its business leaders and several state delegations that it was the country to do business with for those looking for a trusted, reliable and strong partner and for those looking to join an inclusive and sustainable economic growth story.
Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw pitched for 'trust-shoring', describing India as the most trusted nation and a resilient economy, RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das projected a 7 per cent GDP growth for the next fiscal, Union Minister Smriti Irani showcased its inclusive growth and her Cabinet colleague Hardeep Singh Puri declared that India has already seized the moment while speaking at a session titled, 'Can India seize its moment?'
Several state governments, including Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Telangana, set up their own pavilions to showcase their growth potential and signed investment MoUs totalling lakhs of crores of rupees, while a first-of-its-kind WeLead Lounge, set up to showcase India's Women Leadership potential, also grabbed attention for showcasing various schemes for women initiated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and for two young female artisans ' one presenting blue pottery of Jaipur and another wooden toys of Varanasi.
India remained the talk of the town on the main Promenade street of Davos for the entire week everywhere with so many pavilions and lounges and for assertions made by its leaders, while many were also heard asking where and when was the famous 'Bollywood Night', generally a regular feature of the WEF week in Davos that was missing this time.
The WEF said that at a moment of growing fragmentation and polarisation, the meeting served as a platform for advancing dialogue, cooperation and action-oriented partnership.
Nearly 3,000 leaders from government, business and civil society from more than 125 countries, including 350 heads of state and government, and ministers, participated in the meeting and connected across diverse viewpoints on key issues.
Participants advanced new ideas and initiatives to increase resilience and security, revive economic growth, protect the climate and nature, balance innovation and guardrails for technology, and invest in jobs, skills and health, while Indian leaders strongly presented their views on global challenges, including the transition to clean energy and AI governance.
The annual meeting also saw several discussions on the misinformation and disinformation risks, especially in the context of nearly half the population of the world set to vote this year.
Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh, who has been involved in several elections earlier in his career as a civil servant, said trust in elections remains fairly robust in India despite its huge scale with over 900 million registered voters.
Overall, more than 450 sessions and workshops took place during the week, which started with a meeting of national security advisors from over 80 countries to discuss a peace plan for Ukraine.
"We must rebuild trust in our future, trust in our capacity to overcome challenges, and most importantly, trust in each other," WEF Founder and Executive Chairman Klaus Schwab said.
"Trust is not just a feeling; trust is a commitment to action, to belief, to hope," he added.
Schwab also attended India Reception and offered to support and partner a new Alliance for Global Good - Gender Equity and Equality launched by India on the sidelines of the meeting.
He also said that India emerged as one of the main topics of discussions at Davos in addition to climate, conflicts and AI and thanked the country for sending such a strong delegation despite it being an election year.
On the last day while talking about the global economic outlook, leaders said the economy and trade appeared moving towards normalisation but were still 'not normal; WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said she is relatively optimistic about 2024 after a weak 2023, but she does not foresee any immediate return to 'normal' despite signs of the global trade moving towards normalisation.
"There are so many uncertainties and there are also so many elections around the world, making it difficult to predict anything," she added.
The WTO chief said she would still expect trade growth to be better than 2024 unless a major war breaks out. European Central Bank Chief Christine Lagarde said, "Normalisation was something we began seeing by the end of 2023, but tailwinds that were there started fading and we are now looking at something that is non-normal."
Singapore President Tharman Shanmugaratnam called for fiscal reforms and diversion of subsidies to tackle challenges like climate change, ageing of society before it was too late.
At the closing session, WEF President Borge Brende called for an urgent need for global leaders to work together for rebuilding trust, reviving the economy and addressing risks of misinformation, societal polarisation, climate change and conflicts.
"This year's meeting came at a critical and complex moment. Rising global temperatures, still fragile economy and security challenges not bound by borders show that it is not possible to grow alone. All of this makes rebuilding trust very important and we can do that only by working together," he added.
Cooperation can always deliver results and let's hope that we make significant progress this year in reviving the economy and addressing the security problems, he said.