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Bill Gates meets PM Modi, praises 'India's progress' in his blog | Top points

Source: HT News Desk | Nisha Anand | Edited by Aniruddha Dhar Mar-04-2023 3 min read

Bill Gates during his meeting with PM Modi on Friday, held a range of discussions from climate change, to India's digital initiatives, education during the pandemic, vaccine policy among other things.

Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates held a range of discussions about India’s “incredible” progress and its innovations that can benefit the world during his meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday. In his latest blog - ‘GatesNotes’ - Gates, also a philanthropist, has commended the progress India is making in fields like health, development and climate and said the country is showing what is possible when investment is made in innovation. Gates also mentioned that his visit to India after a long halt due to the Covid-19 pandemic has been “inspiring” and said his meeting with Modi involved topics such as climate change, India’s health systems, its frontline leadership on Covid-19 vaccines, Gati Shakti among other things.

What Gates said on India
1) Gates lauded India’s vaccine policy and its delivery system and praised the country’s efforts to extend its vaccine mission to other nations. “Vaccines produced in India have saved millions of lives during the pandemic and prevented other diseases around the world,” Gates said, hailing the Co-WIN portal developed by the government for facilitating Covid-19 related services. He also backed Modi on his words that the Co-WIN model can be globally executed.

2) Gates also hailed the country’s digital payment systems revolutionised due to the reach of Aadhaar cards. “India has made financial inclusion a priority, investing in a digital ID system (called Aadhaar) and creating innovative platforms for digital banking…a fantastic investment,” he said.

3) The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation co-chair also hailed the country’s Gati Shakti program and said it was “a great example of how digital technology can help governments work better. It digitally connects 16 ministries, including rail and roads, so they can integrate their plans for infrastructure projects and accelerate the work of Indian scientists and engineers.”

4) Modi and Bill Gates also shared their thoughts on the ongoing G20 presidency under India’s leadership. Gates, in his blog, noted that the G20 presidency is a great opportunity for India to take its innovation around the world. On the collaboration of the Gates Foundation with the government, he said, “Supporting these efforts, especially spreading its digital ID and payments systems to other places, is a high priority for our foundation.”

5) He also praised Modi for his efforts to eliminate tuberculosis, kala azar and other diseases and the country’s digital initiatives to keep schools running, even during the pandemic. Climate change also remained a key focus in their discussion and Gates said his foundation would be seeking areas to work together with 'Mission Innovation' - a global clean energy initiative in which India is also a partner.