Our banks, rupee should be key in international trade, says PM

NEW DELHI: India needs to focus on making its financial system and currency a more integral part of the international trade and supply chain, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Monday, inaugurating a series of events over the week to mark the government’s “Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav” campaign. The campaign is meant to showcase the government’s efforts and outline longer-term objectives and initiatives in the run-up to India celebrating its 75 years of Independence next year. Modi, in keeping with the theme, highlighted the financial inclusion programmes and said that these must be popularised further.

“Focus is also necessary on how our banks, our currency become comprehensive part of international supply chain, international trade,” the PM said.

In the last eight years, Modi said, India has shown that if it collectively decides to do something, the country “becomes a new hope for the world”.

“Efforts should be made so that the financial solutions, which have been prepared for India, should now also provide

At an event to mark ‘Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav’ campaign, Modi called for expansion of financial inclusion programmes

One-stop digital portal: ‘Increased public participation’:

solutions to citizens of other countries of the world,” he added.

The PM also reiterated a statement he made recently, identifying India as a key player in efforts to solve global issues. “Today, the world is looking at us not just as a big consumer market but looking at us with hope and confidence as a capable, game-changing, creative, innovative ecosystem,” he added.

Modi’s comments come at a time when the international trade order has been disrupted by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, with sanctions by Western nations disrupting typical payment frameworks and routes, forcing India, among several other nations, to buy oil from Moscow in either rubles or their local currencies.

The US dollar is the most widely accepted currency for global trade, and American payment companies Visa and Mastercard are among the most popular end-user payment systems. India, however, has recorded a rapid growth of its mobile-based payment systems, the Unified Payments Interface (UPI).

The PM said that his government, which recently completed eight years in office, was making welfare schemes “people-centric” instead of “the government