India in the throes of global leadership: Pranab

India is in the throes of attaining global leadership, President Pranab Mukherjee asserted Friday, while stressing on the need to ensure the fruits of prosperity and progress benefit every Indian.

Speaking at the 48th convocation of the Indian Statistical Institute (ISI) here, Mukherjee spoke about the role of technology and manpower in helping the country realise the goal of inclusivity and its global leadership position.

"We are today in the throes of attaining global leadership. This is possible only through the singular contribution of all our countrymen. For that, we must ensure every citizen of this country gets the benefits of progress and prosperity," Mukherjee said.

"Today, technology provides us the hope to realise this goal. Our manpower gives us the wherewithal to create and administer the technology," he said.

Recalling the pioneering work in applied statistics of P.C. Mahalanobis who laid the foundation of the ISI, Mukherjee lauded his vision about the potential of statistics in creating a modern society.

"He correctly identified statistics as a key tool for the progress of science and technology. In 1931, he set up a statistical laboratory in a room of the Presidency College, Kolkata. This path-breaking initiative, taken more than eight decades back, has become a large institution. ISI is today considered a world-class academic body in theoretical and applied statistics," he said.

Defence Minister A.K. Antony, Minister of Statistics and Programme Implementation Srikant Jena, Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council chairman C. Rangarajan and West Bengal Governor M.K. Narayanan were present.