India’s voice carries weight way beyond region: Belgian PM

New Delhi: Highlighting India’s soaring global stature, visiting Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever on Thursday observed that the nation has evolved beyond being the planet’s premier democracy to become the fastest-expanding major economy, a technological and financial engine, and a formidable geopolitical force whose influence reaches far past its immediate neighbourhood.

Addressing a joint press conference with Prime Minister Narendra Modi following their meeting in New Delhi, De Wever remarked that his visit to India, representing the inaugural visit by a Belgian premier in two decades, was profoundly significant, though the hiatus had been “too long”.

“Today, you are not only the world’s largest democracy but also the fastest-growing major economy, which has become an economic and technological powerhouse and a major geopolitical factor whose voice carries way before, way beyond, this region,” he said.