Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday described India as a “model of diversity” in his addresses to the Indian diaspora in which he also announced an agreement for the use of UPI in France, opening a huge new market for the Indian innovation in cashless instant payment.

In his nearly an hour-long speech to the enthusiastic crowd at the La Seine Musicale — a performing arts centre on an island in the river Seine –Modi outlined India’s fast-paced development and asserted that while the world is moving towards a new order, India’s strength and role are also changing very quickly. He mentioned India’s presidency of the G20 in this context and noted how the world has been left impressed by the way the country has been hosting various events. Modi announced the opening of a new Indian consulate in Marseille in France and told the cheerful audience that Indian students doing masters in the European country will now get five-year-long post-study work visas. Highlighting India’s democratic and pluralistic credentials, he said it is the mother of democracy and a model of diversity as well. This is our very big strength, he said, noting that over 32,000 newspapers and 900 news channels exist in the country in over 100 languages and that Tamil is the world’s oldest language.

This diversity is the biggest strength of Indian democracy and Indians are fulfilling their dreams on the basis of this plurality and helping the country and the world move forward, he said.