New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday invited G20 delegates to come to India in 2024 to witness “the festival of democracy” or the country’s general elections.
In a virtual address to the G20 Tourism Ministers’ meet, Modi spoke about the importance of festivals in India. “We have festivals around the year, all over the country…But, there is another festival that you must visit. The festival of democracy in the mother of democracy.
“Next year, India will hold its next general election. For over a month, nearly a billion voters will be celebrating this festival, re-affirming their abiding faith in democratic values. With more than a million voting booths, there will be no shortage of places for you to witness this festival, in all its diversity. I invite you all to visit India for this most important of global festivals,” the Prime Minister told the ministers, who are meeting in Goa.
Modi, who is on his first state visit to the US at the moment, said India’s approach to tourism was akin to the ancient saying: “Atithi Devo Bhava (Guest is God)”.
“Our tourism is not just about sight-seeing. It is an immersive experience. Whether it is music or food, arts or culture, the diversity of India is truly majestic. From the high Himalayas, to dense forests, from the dry deserts, to beautiful beaches, from adventure sports, to meditation retreats, India has something for everyone,” he told delegates.
Modi said India’s efforts in tourism – a sector worth over two trillion dollars globally – were centred on preserving the country’s rich heritage and at the same time creating world-class infrastructure.
“One of our focus areas is on developing spiritual tourism. After all, India attracts pilgrims of every major religion of the world. After the infrastructure upgrade, the eternal city of Varanasi, just one of the major spiritual centres, now attracts 70 million pilgrims – a ten-fold increase from earlier,” he said.
The country was also creating new tourist attractions, such as the Statue of Unity. Modi said “the tallest statue in the world” attracted about 2.7 million people within a year after it was built.
He said the tourism ecosystem in India has also been the government’s focus since the last nine years, with special emphasis on transport infrastructure, the hospitality sector, skill development, and even visa systems. “We have kept the tourism sector as a focal point of our reforms,” he added.
He said countries should make greater use of emerging technologies “like artificial intelligence and augmented reality to drive innovation”. He said in India, the government was working on using artificial intelligence to enable real-time translation of the wide range of languages spoken here.
Modi also reminded delegates that terrorism may divide, but “tourism unites”.
He hoped after the deliberations in Goa, the “Goa Roadmap” would multiply collective efforts to realise tourism’s transformative power. “The motto of India’s G20 Presidency ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’ – ‘One Earth, One Family, One Future’ — can itself be a motto for global tourism,” the Prime Minister said.
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