PM Modi's Addresses Council on Foreign Relations in New York: Highlights

• Richard Haass, President, Council on Foreign Relations, introduces Prime Minister Narendra Modi
• PM Modi begins his address in Hindi
• Five Indian Prime Ministers have spoken to you here earlier, I'm the sixth
  
• I am in your city for the past three days and the love and affection I have received, I thank you for that
• CFR has shielded itself from bias and has a tradition of presenting all points of view on a subject
• PM Modi praises Dr Haas for his role in improving relations with India 
• CFR does not impose its views, puts forth facts and lets people reach their own conclusions. I appreciate this.
• For the first time an individual born in independent India has been elected prime minister
• After 30 years India elected a government with a complete majority
• A party that has spent a lot of time in the Opposition has come to power
• We had two planks in these elections: Good Governance and Development
• We rose above petty issues. People accepted us because the thinking of the youth has changed
• The aspirations of the youth of India led to such a huge political change
  
• In politics, stability plays a very important role.
• When I talk about good governance, I mean minimum government and maximum governance
• My efforts are towards simplifying and speeding processes. We want to focus on transparency and e-governance
• There is a 'Neo-Middle Class' in our country, one which has just come out of poverty and does not want to go back
  
• We have to pay attention to this 'Neo-Middle Class'
• After the government has been formed an atmosphere of trust has been created
• We want to take our economy ahead on the three pillars of agriculture, manufacturing and services
• We want to create a balance between all these sectors 
• 'Zero Defect, Zero Effect'. Our products will have no defects and will have no adverse impact on environment
• The world will need a big work force by 2020.  India is a young country that can fulfill this demand.
• That is why we have focused on skill development
• A Hollywood film costs more than the amount of money we spent to reach Mars
• We are taking politically uncomfortable decisions that will ultimately benefit everyone: PM on undertaking labour reforms
• Seeing the mandate we have got, we feel it is imperative to take India on the path of development: PM on undertaking labour reforms
• The states are also being strengthened to take decisions on labor force, Centre will co-operate
• In Hindu mythology, they say  you can attain 'moksha' if you visit the 'char dhams'... but a government file would travel across 32 tables and still nothing would get done. We have tried to speed up that process.
• No matter how big a lock it, it can be opened by a small key
• In our very first Budget, we took initiatives on foreign direct investment. We want private investment in our railways
• We are conscious about the environment and are making efforts to clean the Ganga
• We want peace with our neighbours. I invited Heads of SAARC nations for our swearing in ceremony.
• No country can exist on its own, we have to take other countries along
• Ideology has limits, philosophy is limitless. India's philosophy is 'Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam'
• We have taken the initiative of a SAARC satellite. This will help all our neighbours.
  
• On humanitarian grounds, we publicly offered help to Pakistan when floods hit Jammu and Kashmir
• China is our neighbour, everyone says the 21st century belongs to Asia
• Some say this century belongs to China, others say India
• We have three things that no one else has: democracy; demographic division and demand
• We need to take the issue of terrorism very seriously. Sadly several nations never understood the real menace of terrorism.
• Terrorism can strike anywhere, anytime... it is an enemy of humanity.
  
• Terrorism cannot be tackled on the basis of political arithmetic.
• There cannot be a distinction between good and bad terrorism. Terrorism is terrorism
• Terrorism has no borders, no ideology
• Tourism unites, Terrorism divides

After his address, PM Modi responds to questions at CFR:

• Food security and trade facilitation must go together. That is what we believe in.
• We want to provide electricity 24x7 to all villages in India.
• Development and climate aren't juxtaposed to one another
• Non-violence is at the core of our philosophy, all the terrorism in our country is 'exported' not home grown
• On India-US relationship: There is no need to be comfortable on all aspects, doesn't happen even between a husband and a wife
• The biggest thing that unites India and America is democracy
• We should think what India and America can together achieve for the benefit of the whole world
• Afghanistan is an example of that... we want Afghanistan to have a stable and peaceful progress
• Process of US withdrawal in Afghanistan should be slow, not like Iraq
• China and India can talk to each other and solve their disputes, there is no need for separate arbitration
• We admit that there is a border a dispute but both sides have agreed upon solving the problem urgently
• India, other countries in Asia have had women as Prime Ministers
  
• My foreign minister Sushma Swaraj is a woman, my foreign secretary Sujatha Singh is a woman. Women form 25% of my cabinet
• But that isn't all - the most important thing for women's empowerment is girl child education.
• Beti padhao, beti bachao is my government's agenda.
• There are many countries in the world where women have had to fight for the right to vote. But we in India have 30% reservation for women in elected bodies
• If I take one name, it would be unfair to others. I want to learn from everyone. I want to bring the best in the world to my country.