Hannover, April 13 (IANS): Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said he visualised India as a "key engine of global growth".

In an Op-Ed piece in German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Modi said: "I visualize India as a key engine of global growth. Our democratic principles and practices are guarantors of stability. We have a free media and an independent judiciary that allows all opinions to be aired without fear."

The prime minister, who is on a two-day visit to Germany, said that India believed in "Rahein Saath Badhe Saath" (stay together-grow together).

"There is no other way forward. Mankind's progress in this century depends on cooperation and collaboration. Conflict is unthinkable. So is poverty which (Mahatma) Gandhi called the worst form of violence," he said.

"If we can take all Indians together into a better socio-economic future, I believe that the world we share will be a better place for all," he added.