Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday called for achieving self-reliance to fight and win the war against the novel coronavirus outbreak. Addressing the nation for the fifth time since March, the prime minister said that India has the potential to not just win the Covid-19 battle but also emerge as a global leader after this.

"When the world is in crisis, we must pledge - a pledge which is bigger than the crisis itself. We must strive to make the 21st century India's century. And the path to do that is self-reliance," PM Narendra Modi said.

Giving an example of India can achieve self-reliance, the prime minister said that when the Covid-19 outbreak started India did not manufacture ay PPE kits, but today India has the capacity to manufacture 2 lakh PPE kits and 2 lakh N95 masks. "India has converted crisis into opportunity. This attitude will help us achieve self-reliance," the PM said.

Prime Minister said that the definition of self-reliance has undergone a change in the globalised world. However, he said, "When the country talks about self-reliance, it is different from being self-centered." He said that India’s culture considers the world as one family, and progress in India is part of, and also contributes to, progress in the whole world. The PM said that the world trusts that India has a lot to contribute towards the development of the entire humanity.

To help India achieve self-reliance, PM Modi announced an economic package of Rs 20 lakh crore. "I announce a special economic package today. This will play an important role in the 'Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan'. The announcements made by the government over Covid-19, decisions of RBI and today's package totals to Rs 20 lakh crores. This is 10 per cent of India's GDP," PM Narendra Modi said.