India Most Affordable Destination For Medical, Wellness Tourism: PM At SCO
PM Modi while delivering his speech at the 22nd Meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in Uzbekistan said, India is today one of the most affordable destinations for medical and wellness tourism in the world. WHO Global Centre for Traditional Medicine was inaugurated in Gujarat in April 2022. This will be WHO's first and only global centre for traditional medicine.
“We must increase cooperation on traditional medicine among SCO countries. For this, India will take the initiative for a new SCO Working Group on Traditional Medicine,” PM Modi added.
He further said, the world faces another major challenge today and that is ensuring the food security of our citizens. One possible solution to this problem is to promote the cultivation and consumption of millets. Millets are a superfood that has been grown for thousands of years, not just in SCO countries, but in many parts of the world, and is a traditional, nutritious, and low-cost alternative to dealing with the food crisis. “The year 2023 will be celebrated as the UN International Year of Millets. We should consider organising a 'Millet Food Festival' under the SCO,” Modi further noted.
Stressing on the importance of the SCO countries, Modi stated, when the whole world is facing the challenges of economic recovery after the pandemic, the role of SCO becomes very important. SCO member countries contribute about 30 percent of global GDP, and 40 percent of the world's population also lives in SCO countries. India supports greater cooperation and mutual trust among SCO members.
Dwelling on the current global economic crunch, PM highlighted that the pandemic and the crisis in Ukraine caused many obstacles in global supply chains, due to which the whole world is facing an unprecedented energy and food crisis. He said, SCO must make efforts to develop reliable, resilient and diversified supply chains in our region. “This will require better connectivity, as well as it will be important that we all give each other full right to transit,” PM Modi added.
