Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates meets PM Modi, says 'More optimistic than ever'

Microsoft co-founder and philanthropist Bill Gates met Prime Minister Narendra Modi on March 4. The discussion that was held between the two primarily focused on ‘innovative work’ in health, climate change, and other such important areas.  

Bill Gates stated, "at a time when the world has so many challenges, it’s inspiring to visit a dynamic and creative place like India."

During India’s G20 presidency, Bill Gates stated that he sees it as an opportunity to highlight how innovations that are developed in India can also benefit the rest of the world and also help other countries adopt them. 

Gates went on to write on his personal blog about his constant connection with PM Modi while developing Covid-19 vaccines and  "investing in India's health systems".

"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," he posted in his blog.

While saying that India excels at both creating and distributing new, life-saving technologies, Gates noted that the public health system in the country has distributed more than 2.2 billion doses of Covid vaccines.

"They developed Co-WIN, an open-source platform that provided digital certifications for those who have received vaccinations while enabling the scheduling of billions of vaccine appointments," Gates further wrote in his blog.

Appreciating the work done by India under the leadership of PM Modi "while the world had been grappling with the pandemic', Gates stated the country has been sending emergency digital payments to about 300 million people, including 200 million women. 

"This was only feasible because India prioritized financial inclusion, spending money on a biometric ID system (named Aadhaar), and developing cutting-edge digital banking platforms," he wrote.

Also stressing the country's 'Gati Shakti' programme, Gates Notes highlighted that it proved to be a model of how digital technology can help governments work better.

"It digitally connects 16 ministries, including rail and roads, so they can integrate their plans for infrastructure projects and accelerate the work of Indian scientists and engineers," the blog post read.

Gates further lauded PM Modi's efforts in subsiding "deadly and debilitating diseases" like tuberculosis, visceral leishmaniasis, and lymphatic filariasis.

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