Growth patterns must follow a human-centric approach and be in harmony with our surroundings, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said.

Discussions on global growth cannot happen only between a few and the table must be bigger and the agenda broader, Modi said addressing the sixth Indo-Japan SAMVAD Conference on Monday.

“Societies that are open minded, democratic and transparent are better suited to innovate. Therefore, now is the time, more than ever before, to change the paradigm on what we see as growth,” the PM said.

Modi’s comments are important in the light of several countries, including Japan, trying to reduce their investments in neighbouring China, which has significantly expanded its economy over the last decades, but has several issues related to non-transparency causing conflicts with trading partners.

The PM proposed the creation of a library of all traditional Buddhist literature and scriptures found in different monasteries today. “We will be happy to create such a facility in India and will provide appropriate resources for it. The library will collect digital copies of all such Buddhist literature from different countries. It will aim to translate them, and make them freely available for all monks and scholars of Buddhism,” he said.

Five years ago, India began this series of conferences with former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Since then, SAMVAD has travelled from New Delhi to Tokyo, from Yangon to Ulaanbaatar, Modi added.

“This decade and beyond will belong to those societies that place a premium on learning and innovating together. It will be about nurturing bright young minds who will add value to humanity in the times to come. Learning should be such that furthers innovation. After all, innovation is the corner-stone to human empowerment,” the PM said.

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