At BRICS women's summit, Smriti Irani greets women for being on a "path of emancipation"

New Delhi [India], March 4 : Extending her greetings for the upcoming International Women's Day, Bharatiya Janata Party leader and former Union Minister Smriti Irani on Tuesday expressed her happiness for women being on the "path of emancipation," while also thanking men who contribute to women's empowerment.
The BJP leader participated in the BRICS annual women's summit, held in the national capital today.
"My heartiest congratulations to women on the occasion of International Women's Day and to the girls who are on the path of emancipation. My gratitude to all the men who contribute to the economic empowerment of women, socially respect them, and make the working and community environment safer," Irani told reporters here.
International Women's Day is held annually on March 8.
During Smriti Irani's speech at the BRICS women's summit, organised by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCI) of BRICS, she highlighted how the contributions of women often remain unrecognised.
"The global gender gap index fails to measure the true economic power of women. Women are driving economies, yet their contributions remain unrecognised," she said during a panel discussion.
Former Puducherry governor Kiran Bedi also attended the annual women's summit, where she raised the importance of both mothers and fathers sharing an equal responsibility in shaping the future of their children.
"Inspirational parenting should be included as a sustainable development goal by the UN, encouraging mothers and fathers to share equal responsibility in shaping the future," Kiran Bedi said.
After her address, while talking to reporters, Bedi said, "There are two groups of women in the country at the moment - one are those who have a lot of opportunities, and now they have to lift themselves and others... the other are those who do not have enough opportunities, who need guidance from the media, local administration, schools so that they can take advantage of the opportunities they have and make the most of them," Bedi said.
She further urged young people to understand the vision of 'Viksit Bharat' (developed India) as ultimately it will be for the people's benefit.
"If the youth understand that Viksit Bharat is for their own benefit, they work responsibly and lead a quality life, then developed India is definitely possible because it means a healthy, prosperous, capable and skilled Bharat, so if skills are being taught in schools, they should be learned," she said.

Multiple other leaders attended the event today, including Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta, actress Dia Mirza, along with a variety of panels and discussions being held.