India has dispelled the myth that democracy, economic growth can't go together: Modi

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday pitched for further quota reforms at IMF to reflect global economic realities and give India and other emerging economies larger say in the working of multilateral bodies. "India has dispelled the myth that democracy and rapid economic growth cannot go together," he said while addressing a conference on Advancing Asia, co-hosted by India and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Modi said the long pending quota revisions agreed in 2010 have finally come into effect but "even now, IMF quotas do not reflect the global economic realities."

"Change in quotas is not an issue of increasing the 'power' of certain countries. It is an issue of fairness and legitimacy. The belief that quotas can be changed, is essential for the fairness of the system," he said.

For poor nations to respect the legitimacy of such institutions, they must be able to aspire and to hope, he said.

"I am, therefore, very happy that the IMF has decided to finalize the next round of quota changes by October 2017."

The Prime Minister said the quota reforms implemented in January reflects the emerging economies' greater weight in the world economy.

"This will give them (emerging economies) more say in collective decisions in the IMF," he said while lauding IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde's role in persuading all members to ratify the decisions taken in 2010.

Hoping that IMF would be able to build on this success, Modi said, "Reform of global institutions has to be an ongoing process. It must reflect changes in the global economy, and the rising share of emerging economies."

IMF in January announced implementation of its long-pending quota reforms, which will give more voting rights to emerging economies such as India and China in the functioning of the multilateral institution.

India's quota in IMF rose to 2.7% from 2.44% and its voting share increased to 2.6% from 2.34%.

For the first time, four emerging market countries of the BRIC bloc - Brazil, China, India, and Russia - will be among the 10 largest members of IMF.

Other top 10 members include the US, Japan, and the four largest European countries - France, Germany, Italy and the UK.

Modi said India has always had great faith in multi-lateralism. "We believe that as the world becomes more complex, the role of multilateral institutions will increase."

The country was represented at the Bretton Woods Conference in 1944, which gave birth to the IMF. India's delegate was RK Shanmukham Chetty, who later became independent India's first Finance Minister.

"Our ties, therefore, are more than 70 years old. We are a Founding Member of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and the New Development Bank. We are confident that these banks will play an important role in the development of Asia," he said.

IMF has built an immense stock of economic expertise, he said, adding that apart from advice, the Fund can help in building capacity for policy making.

Modi announced a new partnership with Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal, Sri Lanka, India and the IMF to set up the South Asia Regional Training and Technical Assistance Centre.

The Centre will provide training to government and public sector employees. and enhance their skills and improve the quality of their policy inputs. It will also provide technical assistance to governments and public institutions, he said.