Addressing the B20 Summit of business representatives from G20 countries, Modi said while critical and rare earth minerals are the need of the entire world, they are unevenly distributed globally—some countries have large quantities of these minerals while others do not have them at all.

“There is abundance of rare earths, or critical minerals in some places, while there is deficiency in some places but the entire humanity needs it. If those having it do not see it as their global responsibility, it will strengthen a new model of colonialism. I am giving a serious warning,” he told the global business community.

The PM’s remarks come as a global hunt for critical and rare earth minerals gathers further momentum because of their increasing use in areas such as renewable energy, energy storage, telecommunications, defence and healthcare.

In June this year, India became a member of the coveted critical minerals club, the Mineral Security Partnership (MSP), an announcement that was part of a joint statement by Modi and president Joe Biden during Modi’s US visit in June.

MSP is a strategic grouping of 13 countries—Australia, Canada, Finland, France, Germany, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Sweden, the UK, the US, the European Union, Italy and India. It aims to catalyze public and private investment in critical mineral and rare earth supply chains globally.

Modi also flagged concerns around bias in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and its impact on society and called for a global framework for ethical use of AI. He also said there is a need for developing an integrated approach to deal with issues concerning cryptocurrencies.

“Now, there is a challenge related to cryptocurrencies. There is a need for more and more integrated approach in this matter. I think, a global framework should be created for this, in which all stakeholders are taken care of,” Modi said adding that a similar approach is required for AI.

Stressing on the need to give equal significance to consumers and consuming nations, he said a profitable market can be sustained only when there is balance between the interests of producers and consumers.

“It also applies to nations. Treating other countries only as a market will never work. It will harm even the producing countries sooner or later. Making everyone equal partners in progress is the way forward.”

Modi said that the Covid-19 pandemic destroyed the conventional global supply chain and India emerged as a significant player for a new, trusted and efficient global supply chain.

“Can we call a supply chain efficient which breaks down when the world needs it most? I can assure you, India is the answer to this problem,” Modi said, describing India as “a key place in building an efficient and trusted global supply chain”.

The projection of India as a key player in the global supply chain comes as several global manufacturing companies have been looking at shifting their base out of China post the pandemic and amid geopolitical concerns. The union government too has been announcing measure to boost the manufacturing sector in the country and wooing global investors.

He noted that over 135 million people have come out of poverty trap in the past five years and termed this population as the “neo-middle class”. He was of the view that these people who have emerged out of poverty are providing the momentum to the country’s growth.

“Those coming out of poverty, the neo middle class, I consider that they are the biggest consumer because they come with new aspirations. The neo-middle class is giving momentum to India’s growth…As the middle class’ purchasing power increases, that will have a big impact on businesses,” Modi said.

A recent Niti Aayog report titled ‘National Multidimensional Poverty Index: A Progress Review 2023’ which showed that an estimated 135 million Indians exited multidimensional poverty between 2015-16 and 2019-21. Multidimensional poverty is a composite measure that counts factors beyond money, including education, health, and living standards.

Talking of the recent success of Chandrayaan-3 moon mission he said that it is a success of both science and industry. Many Indian businesses and MSMEs contributed components for the project, he said, describing the mission as “a responsible space programme” which seeks to bring sustainability and equality.

“It is about responsibility, acceleration, innovation, sustainability and equality and it is about humanity. It is about one earth, one family, one future,” he said.

Updated: 27 Aug 2023, 10:17 PM IST