Washington: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has said that India has not only faced the coronavirus crisis with great resilience and fortitude but has also played a key role and ''walked the talk'' on the global fight against the pandemic highlighting that the measures taken by the government have set a strong foundation of the country's sustained economic growth.

Addressing the Development Committee meeting, Sitharaman said The country's pandemic response has focused on the twin goals of saving both the lives and livelihoods, she said. "India has played a major role and truly 'walked the talk' on the global COVID-19 effort. India's massive Vaccine Maitri program, under which more than 66.3 million doses of COVID vaccines were exported to 95 countries worldwide bears special mention. India is all set to resume vaccine export in October 2021," Finance Minister said.

Highlighting the fast recovery of India's economy, Sitharaman in her address to the Development Committee of the World Bank said the Modi Government, besides taking economic relief measures, has also undertaken significant structural reforms to turn the crisis into an opportunity and emerge stronger. "The measures undertaken by the government have set a strong foundation for India's sustained economic growth," she said.

According to the IMF’s World Economic Outlook, India is estimated to be the fastest-growing major economy in 2021, projected to grow at 9.5 percent in 2021 and 8.5 percent in 2022. Observing that notwithstanding the pandemic, India received its highest ever foreign direct investment inflows of USD 82.0 billion in fiscal 2020-21, the finance minister said this trend in India's FDI is an endorsement of its status as a preferred investment destination amongst global investors.

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