'We think it is normal, but others don't': Jaishankar on India's 10-11 billion cashless transactions per month
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar. ANI
Asserting how robust India digitised system has become, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Tuesday said that in India today we do 10-11 billion cashless transactions per month which “we think is normal but others don’t think that”.
To drive home his point, he cited the US and China who process 4 billion cashless transactions in a year and China a maximum of 20 billion in a year.
Speaking at the Viksit Bharat 2047 program at Hansraj College in Delhi, EAM Jaishankar said, “Today if you look at the range, how digitized India has become. How many of you today anymore use cash? How many of you use your phone-based cashless payments? We think it is normal, but others don’t think that. In India, we do 10-11 billion cashless transactions per month. America does 4 billion in a year… China does a maximum of 20 billion in a year…”
The minister said that people today get their income tax filed, housing allotments and driving licences faster.
“…We give passports faster… Digital has cut down corruption because everything is digitally recorded… With transparency, honesty also comes…,” added Jaishankar.
Talking about Artificial Intelligence, he said in a maximum of five years, it will change our lives.
“We are talking of self-driven cars, we are looking at drones. Drones used to be like something from a movie some years ago,” he said.
Sharing some economy-related numbers, he said India expects to be a 5 trillion economy in the next few years.
“Today, we are a little bit less than USD 4 trillion economy. We expect in the next few years to cross 5 trillion. We will become the world’s third-largest economy. By the time we reach Amrit Kal, we are confident of minimum being a 30 trillion economy…,” added the minister.
Talking about India’s image globally, he said the sense today is that India is a firm country but also a fair country.
“The image of India is of friendly but fair… If you look at a challenge like terrorism, the world recognises that today’s India deals with terrorism very differently from how it used to… The comparison is very simple. What happened in the Mumbai attacks and what happened in Uri and Balakote… That’s a comparison they make,” said
Jaishankar.
Jaishankar also talked about India’s firm stance on China border row and how India continued buying oil from Russia after the Ukraine conflict despite international pressure.
“We have a challenge at our China border. They look at these people (India) standing up and sending the troops. They are staying firm… We came under pressure not to buy oil from Russia… India said my interests require that I buy oil and I am not hiding it… We were very open and honest about it… We were very courageous about it,” he said.
“The sense today is that India is a firm country but it is also a fair country…,” added the minister.
With inputs from agencies