World Economic Forum: PM Narendra Modi to share India's vision on Tuesday

PM Modi is the first Indian PM to attend the WEF in about 20 years since HD Deve Gowda in 1997.

PM Narendra Modi after his arrival in Switzerland for World Economic Forum. (PTI Photo)

Zurich: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will deliver the opening address at the World Economic Forum on Tuesday where he will "share his vision for India's future engagements with the international community".

He is the first Indian PM to attend the WEF in about 20 years since HD Deve Gowda in 1997. The Indian presence is the largest ever with over 130 participants

PM Modi is accompanied by six union ministers - Arun Jaitley, Suresh Prabhu, Piyush Goyal, Dharmendra Pradhan, MJ Akbar and Jitendra Singh.

On his way to Davos, PM @narendramodi arrives in Zurich. First visit by Indian PM to #Davos in 20 years! PM would make a keynote speech at the Plenary of the #WorldEconomicForum, address International Business Council and interact with CEOs. #IndiaMeansBusiness pic.twitter.com/t2ey7cR4S9 — Raveesh Kumar (@MEAIndia) January 22, 2018

A CEOs delegation, led by apex industry body CII and including Mukesh Ambani, Gautam Adani, Azim Premji, Rahul Bajaj, N Chandrasekaran, Chanda Kochhar, Uday Kotak and Ajay Singh, among others, are also representing India.

Earlier on Sunday, PM Modi had said that India's engagement with the outside world in the recent years had become "truly and effectively multi-dimensional covering the political, economic, people to people, security and other spheres".

In a series of tweets, the PM had also said, "At Davos, I look forward to sharing my vision for India's future engagement with the international community. I am confident that these bilateral meetings would be fruitful and give a boost to our relations with these countries and further strengthen economic engagement.

"The existing and emerging challenges to the contemporary international system and global governance architecture deserve serious attention of leaders, governments, policy makers, corporates and civil societies around the world," he had further said.

I look forward to my first visit to the World Economic Forum at Davos, at the invitation of India’s good friend and Founder of the WEF, Prof Klaus Schwab. The theme of the Forum, “Creating a Shared Future in a Fractured World” is both thoughtful and apt. @wef #IndiaMeansBusiness — Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) January 21, 2018

The existing and emerging challenges to the contemporary international system and global governance architecture deserve serious attention of leaders, governments, policy makers, corporates and civil societies around the world. @wef #IndiaMeansBusiness — Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) January 21, 2018

At Davos, I look forward to sharing my vision for India’s future engagement with the international community. @wef #IndiaMeansBusiness — Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) January 21, 2018

Apart from the events for the @wef, I look forward to my separate bilateral meetings with the President of the Swiss Confederation H. E. Mr. @alain_berset and Prime Minister of Sweden H. E. Mr. Stefan Lofven. @SwedishPM #IndiaMeansBusiness — Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) January 21, 2018

I am confident that these bilateral meetings would be fruitful and give a boost to our relations with these countries and further strengthen economic engagement. #IndiaMeansBusiness — Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) January 21, 2018

Over 3,000 world leaders from business, politics, art, academia and civil society will attend the 48th WEF annual meeting in the small ski resort town on snow-covered Alps mountains.

The summit is also being attended by US President Donald Trump, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Emannuel Macron and UK Prime Minister Theresa May, among others.

Trump is due to close the conference with a speech on Friday.

WEF was founded in 1971 by German business professor Klaus Schwab as a way for European corporate leaders to learn from their US peers. Political leaders started attending later in the 1970s

(With Agency inputs)