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New Delhi : Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh said here on May 22, 2020, that Post-COVID India will emerge more confident and gain esteem in the world.
In an interview to a private TV channel, Dr Singh said, notwithstanding all the apprehensions and anticipations at this hour of crisis notwithstanding, 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 Singh also observed that early lockdown announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi had helped India train itself for the new norms of Post-COVID world.
When asked that since he is incharge of North Eastern region which usually depends on tourism, what would be the effect of COVID pandemic, Dr 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, according to a PIB release.
As for business and trade, Dr 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 5,000 to Rs 6,000 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 vaccine which would also come handy for export.
When asked about the recent Domicile notification issued for the Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir, Dr Singh said, this is an extension of the process which started on August 5, 2019, and is now reaching its logical conclusion. The future generations, he said, will realise the positive outcomes of this decision.