India presents different picture than 10 years ago, says VP Dhankhar

With foreign exchange reserves worth USD 680 billion, India has come a long a way since the time it had to pledge its gold to tide over a financial crisis, Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar said on Saturday.

Dhankhar was speaking during the inauguration programme of Uttar Pradesh Sainik School in Gorakhpur.

"Today's India presents a completely different picture than what was 10 years ago. There was a time when the same country, which was referred to as 'sone ki chidiya', had to pledge its gold in foreign banks. Back then, our foreign exchange was between USD 1 billion and USD 2 billion. Today, it is USD 680 billion. Look at the kind of progress we have made since," he said.

India's foreign exchange reserves jumped by USD 2.299 billion to a new high of USD 683.987 billion for the week ended on August 30.

The vice-president also showered praise on Prime Minister Narendra Modi for India's turnaround and said Uttar Pradesh under Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath also played a crucial role i