Bill Gates meets Modi, lauds India's progress in various sectors

Microsoft co-founder and United States (US) business magnate Bill Gates met Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday and stated that the meeting made him more optimistic than ever about India's progress in climate, development, and health. In his latest "GatesNotes" blog, Gates wrote, "At a time when the world has so many challenges, it's inspiring to visit a dynamic and creative place like India."

• Gates visited India for the first time in a long time earlier this week. According to reports, the philanthropist's visit was to review the work of the Breakthrough Energy and Gates Foundation partners.
• While some are working to develop breakthroughs to help people mitigate the effects of climate change, others are working to help the world adapt to a warmer future.

While lauding India's recent digital revolution and its key role in producing COVID-19 vaccines that saved lives worldwide, Gates said: "India has an amazing ability to manufacture lots of safe, effective, and affordable vaccines, some of them supported by the Gates Foundation." "Vaccines produced in India have saved millions of lives during the pandemic and prevented other diseases around the world," added the 67-year-old.

Speaking about the Co-WIN platform, the American business magnate said the country created an open-source medium that allowed citizens to book appointments and provided digital certifications. As per Gates, the platform is now being further developed to support India's universal immunization process. "Prime Minister Modi believes that Co-WIN is a model for the world, and I agree," he said.

Gates also lauded the Modi government's Gati Shakti program, which connects 16 ministries digitally so that they can incorporate their plans for infrastructure projects and accelerate the work of engineers and scientists. He also added that this plan is an excellent example of how digital technology can assist governments across the globe in working more efficiently.

Talking further about his meeting with PM Modi, Gates said that the two spoke at length about India's G20 presidency this year. "A highlight of my trip was Friday's meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi," said Gates. "He was generous with his time, as we talked about how science and innovation can help reduce inequities in India and around the world," he added.

"We've been working together on climate for years—India is a key partner in Mission Innovation, the program launched in 2015 to accelerate work on clean energy technologies," the businessman stated. He also added, "I'm looking forward to getting together with the MI partners during the COP28 Summit this December to accelerate the development of new sources of affordable, reliable clean energy."

On Saturday, Modi also took to Twitter and said that he was absolutely delighted to meet the Microsoft co-founder and revealed that they had extensive discussions on key topics. "Delighted to meet Bill Gates and have extensive discussions on key issues. His humility and passion to create a better as well as more sustainable planet are clearly visible," the PM tweeted.