For over 30 mn Indians, entire world is a workplace: EAM S Jaishankar

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Sunday highlighted that over three crore Indians or people of Indian origin are working or studying abroad reflecting that the entire world is a workplace for India.

He also said that when the world economy is struggling to recover after COVID pandemic, India has achieved 7 per cent growth rate.

"More than three crore, three and a half crore almost Indians or people of Indian origin are working, studying, living abroad. For us today, the world is a workplace. Our students can go, our professionals can go, our blue collar people can go," the EAM said while interacting with the intellectuals in Dharwad, Karnataka.

"If you look at many of the big professions of the world, from people who are doing merchant shipping, to people who are air crew, to engineers, to people all over the world, there is no country in the world today where you will not find some Indians and some Indian companies working out there," Jaishankar said while addressing the people of Dharwad.

He said what is different in India today is "Modi".

He said the world is impressed with India.

"The entire world economy is struggling to recover after COVID. So when they see a country with a big economy, with a 7 per cent growth rate, they tell themselves, yes, this is really something which is quite impressive. And they see also that this growth rate is accompanied by how much easier it is to do business, that our ranking in 2014 in the business index of the world was number 142," the minister said.

He said: "Within five years, we had moved from 142 to 63. Then in 2019, unfortunately, they stopped issuing that index. If they did, I can assure you will be at least another 20-30 places up."

"But people are also seeing the innovation index that for them it is not just easy to do business, they are seeing the young people of India. They are seeing the talent, the startups. And we have gone up in the innovation index," Jaishankar said.

Jaishankar said that India is today the top 40 innovators of the world. "This is a country which used to neglect manufacturing, which today actually has a scheme for production linked incentive which is bringing attracting manufacturing from across the world and the premier example of that today is the apple. The fact that the apple, the iPhone is today made in it, that is a premier example but that is one example. Many other things are today being made in it," the EAM said.

"They read about the talent, the startups, the innovation, the unicorns in India. They see the educational progress in India. Now in 2014, we have 760 universities in India. In nine years we have added almost 400 more universities. Today it is 1,130," he added.

Jaishankar is on a two-day visit to poll-bound Karnataka this weekend.

During the two-day visit, Jaishankar will be in the capital city of Bengaluru and will visit Hubbali and Belagavi districts.