Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday expressed the hope that India would become the world’s top economy by 2047.

”Today, we are progressing continuously as the 5th largest economy in the world. According to a recent report of the investment firm Morgan Stanley, India will become the third-largest economy in the next 4-5 years. I am hopeful that we will become the world’s top economy by 2047,” he said addressing students of the Visva Bharati University during the convocation ceremony at Birbhum.

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He called upon the youth to innovate, develop the latest technologies and set up new companies, research establishments and start-ups to provide a new acceleration to the government’s efforts towards making India a more powerful and self-reliant nation.

Rajnath encouraged them to take inspiration from Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore and move forward with vision and knowledge on one hand and centuries-old Indian traditions and values on the other while striving to achieve the overall objective of taking the nation up the development ladder.

The minister sought to motivate the students to give their best shot, work as a team and not get swayed away by the successes and failures of life. The ability to move forward in a balanced way without getting distracted was the key to success, he said, urging the students to not let ego or arrogance come in their way. “Character-building, knowledge and wealth should be given equal weightage. The path of India’s progress goes through the youth. The stronger you are, the stronger our country will be,” he said.

Elaborating on Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore’s idea of nationalism and universal humanism, Rajnath enlightened the students on how the great philosopher deeply influenced Indian society and politics with his thoughts, philosophy and values.

He emphasised that for centuries, Indian nationalism has been based on the feeling of cooperation and human welfare. “Indian nationalism is cultural, not territorial. Consciousness comes before territory. Human welfare is the focus. Indian nationalism is all-inclusive rather than exclusivist and is inspired by universal welfare. Visva-Bharati is an indicator of this sentiment,” he said.

Rajnath added that the great philosopher’s education-related thoughts work as a guiding light even today. “Gurudev believed that education is the way to reach truth and beauty and ensure social welfare. He believed that it is not enough just to learn, but it is necessary to use it in the interest of society. One teacher educating 40-50 students together, which is a West-inspired practice, will be unable to enhance the individuality of any child,” he said.

“In India, there was no such system in the ancient Gurukul. Many studies show that in universities like Nalanda and Takshashila, the ratio of faculty and students used to be 1:5. The government rolled out the National Education Policy 2020, which pays full attention to the personality development of children and proper teacher-pupil ratio,” he said.