Modi's promise to the youth

Bangkok. Narendra Modi has come to reconcile with India's youth. It was less than four weeks ago that the police in the capital New Delhi used batons and tear gas against frustrated teenagers and young adults who were demanding better opportunities for advancement from the government.

Now India's Prime Minister seems to have realized that he can ill afford to further anger the youth. After all, every second resident in the world's most populous country is younger than 30.

Wearing a red turban, the 75-year-old took the lectern in front of the Red Fort in Delhi on Saturday morning to counter the growing dissatisfaction with his government. In the 75-minute long speech on India's Independence Day, he made concrete promises to the revolting Gen Z, which is the biggest domestic political challenge for his government in years.

He announced that the government would train ten million young people in the use of artificial intelligence next year. He also announced free tutoring to prepare school leavers for India's extremely selective selection tests.