India can soon count among advanced nations: Mukherjee

President Pranab Mukherjee said on Wednesday that India is growing in all sectors and expressed the hope that it will soon be counted among the advanced nations of the world.

"India is an old land, but a young nation. It has developed remarkably after Independence, growing in all sectors ranging from industry to agriculture and services. Given our potential, we can soon count ourselves among the advanced nations," Mukherjee said, adding that "our aspirations are big but certainly achievable".

Mukherjee was speaking at the first convocation of the National Institute of Technology-Delhi.

The President said what gives him the confidence is the capability, skill and talent available in our pool of engineers, technologists, scientists, managers, administrators, policymakers, doctors, lawyers, scholars and researchers.

"They are the ones on whom the onus of meeting our developmental challenge rests," he said.

Mukherjee said refresher courses, participation in international seminars and workshops and publishing papers in peer-reviewed journals need to be accorded top priority.

He said our higher academic institutions can play a catalysing role in initiatives like Skill India and Start-up India etc. by deploying their expertise and also involving their students to identify and solve problems at the grass-roots level.

Wishing the students all the best for their future, the President said society looks upon them to become the harbingers of change.

--IANS

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