Excelsior Correspondent
NEW DELHI, May 22 : Union Minister, Dr Jitendra Singh said here today that post-COVID India will emerge more confident and gain esteem in the world arena.
In an exclusive interview to national TV channel Zee News, Dr Jitendra Singh said, notwithstanding all the apprehensions and anticipations at this hour of crisis, he is confident that six months later from today, the world will look up to India with respect and seek to engage with us. Not only this, he said, India will also emerge as a safe destination for business and trade.
Dr Jitendra Singh also observed that early lockdown announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi had helped India to train itself for the new norms of Post-COVID world.
When specifically asked that since he is In-Charge of North Eastern region which usually depends on tourism, what would be the effect of COVID pandemic, Dr Jitendra Singh replied that North East will rather gain in tourism and may start attracting tourists from Europe and other western countries as well because while most of the tourist resorts in those countries have been heavily afflicted by Corona, it is the North Eastern region of India which remains relatively Corona-free and some of the most popular tourist destinations like Sikkim did not have even a single Corona positive case throughout.
As for business and trade, Dr Jitendra Singh said, this is an opportunity for India to give impetus to its “Make in India” mission. In this regard, he cited the example of Bamboo which involves a business of Rs. 5000 to 6000 crore every year and a large proportion of Agarbatti and other bamboo items were hitherto being imported from other countries. Similarly, he said, our Pharma industry has already received a boost and even in the context of COVID-19, we are heading towards making drugs and vaccines which would also come handy for export.
When asked about the recent Domicile notification issued for the Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir, Dr Jitendra Singh said, this is an extension of the process which started on 5th of Aug 2019 and is now reaching its logical conclusion. The future generations, he said, will realize the positive outcomes of this decision.