India enjoys greater soft power than China: Defence Minister
By TIOL News Service
NEW DELHI, DEC 15, 2020: THE Defence Minister, Mr Rajnath Singh, said on Monday that India was far ahead of China when it came to leading the world with ideas.
Addressing the 93rd Annual Convention of Industry body Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), Mr Singh said that while who owns more military might can be debated, there is no ambiguity when it comes to soft power. "India is far ahead of China when it comes to leading the world with ideas."
He said that the Indian economy is likely to return to pre-COVID levels by the end of the current fiscal which is earlier than expected as economists had predicted over two years for the recovery.
"But India bounced back in no time," Mr Singh said, citing data that the economy registered a 7.5% Gross Domestic Product (GDP) contraction in the second quarter while the manufacturing sector registered a 0.6% growth and during April-August, India received the highest ever Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) which was 13% higher than the corresponding period last year.
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