13th August 2019, Ludhiana: India is at number 3 in the world, based on Purchasing power parity, and has one of the best Defence force in the world, said Mr. Deepak Vohra, an Indian diplomat, while addressing students at PCTE Group of Institutes last evening. He has served as Secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs. He was the Ambassador of India to Poland, Lithuania, Armenia, Sudan, etc. Deepak Vohra is currently a special adviser to Lesotho and Guinea Bissau. He hosted the first Indian Talk show on Doordarshan called – “Good Morning India”.
Mr. Vohra addressed the students about the World Economy, Kashmir issue, elections and defense. After sharing a brief history, he added that in 1800, the Asian Continent represented 80% of the world economy. He further added by saying that India is the world’s youngest country with 2/3 of the population in the working-age group of 15 to 64 years. Mentioning of the developed nations to be aging, Vohra quoted that, “15% of the world is ruling the rest 85% is scared to lose their lifestyle.”
He also stated during his session that in 1967, the then Prime Minister of India, Mrs. Indira Gandhi went to the US to seek help with food because India suffered a bad famine and drought. On her arrival, the US media reported that the Indian leader came to beg for food. Following this incident, Mrs. Gandhi pledged that India would never beg for food again. Today, India is one of the largest producer of food, for which largely the credit goes to Punjab, he said, which was instrumental in bringing about the Green Revolution.
The former ambassador quoted
“We are not Indians because we live in India but we are Indians because India lives in us”
Dr. KNS Kang, Director General, PCTE Group of Institutes said that students should interact more and more often with well informed and widely traveled speakers in order to keep them abreast with the world. He said crisis like Kashmir requires students and citizens at large to be aware and updated.
