Speaking on Tuesday, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi put forward the position that the country's expanding role in the global economy rests on durable structural foundations and an ongoing programme of reforms, adding through attributed remarks that the aim is broader shared prosperity rather than advancement drawn from any other nation's loss. He stated that India's reach expands alongside a changing world.
Positioning India as a dependable partner for global commerce, Modi stated that the country stood ready to engage amid shifting geopolitical alignments, disruptions to international trade, and intensifying rivalry over emerging technologies and natural resources.
Speaking at the Bloomberg Economic Forum, he pointed to a 7.8 per cent expansion in gross domestic product during the April-to-June quarter, foreign-exchange reserves that had crossed USD 700 billion, and a series of structural overhauls covering taxation, insolvency, and labour law as indicators of the country's underlying economic durability, adding in his address that a world marked by uncertainty was one in which India continued to demonstrate both reliability and stability.
He pointed to the economy's macroeconomic base as a platform underpinning that expansion, noting that India's current account deficit had narrowed from above 4 per cent roughly a decade ago to around half a per cent at present.
Modi put forward the view that gauging economic and technological standing should go beyond the capacity a nation holds, extending instead to how well it opens doors for those around it, before posing the question of whether possession of power is truly what matters most. He described his guiding principle as one of channelling authority toward the benefit of others, framing the central concern as how that authority gets directed in practice.
Three areas — digital public infrastructure, a growing startup ecosystem, and clean-energy capacity — were put forward by the prime minister as evidence that homegrown strengths could drive broadly shared economic progress.
Describing an active programme through which digital identity systems, payment platforms, and public infrastructure frameworks are being offered to partner nations — with the Global South as a particular focus — he added, in his own words, that reform for them is driven by choice rather than necessity. He described reform as a matter of deeply held principle.
Modi raised concerns that domains such as supply chains, energy, minerals, payment infrastructure, and technology had grown into levers of geopolitical leverage, adding weight to the case for dependable partners and economic systems built to withstand pressure — describing these areas, in his own words, as having become instruments through which states apply coercion and force compliance.
Those remarks arrived at a moment when attracting foreign investment, broadening participation in worldwide supply networks, and forging closer economic ties with developing markets had become active priorities.
At a gathering of international partners, India's expansion was put forward by Modi as a platform through which technology, skilled workers, and practical answers to shared problems could flow outward to other nations.
Pointing to India's digital infrastructure, its startup landscape, growing renewable-energy capacity, and strengthening macroeconomic data, he contended that the country's trajectory demonstrated how broad-based growth remained achievable even against a backdrop of geopolitical friction, disrupted supply chains, and intensifying competition over technology and natural resources. He also conveyed, through the phrase "Power is to empower," that the real test of economic and technological capability lies in how well it raises living standards, widens access to opportunity, and assists other nations in tackling problems they hold in common.
Expanding ties with nations across the Global South stood at the heart of what Modi outlined, with India positioned to offer its accumulated knowledge in areas spanning digital payments, digital identity systems, and public infrastructure.
Growth within India's startup sector and the country's expanding renewable-energy base both drew attention from the prime minister, who put forward the view that technological advancement and innovation ought to reach people regardless of their income level or where they live. Deliveries reaching more than 100 countries were put forward as evidence that a nation's manufacturing infrastructure for vaccines can be redirected to serve health needs well beyond its own population.
With supply chains, energy supplies, minerals, payments infrastructure, and technology all increasingly drawn into geopolitical rivalries, Modi put forward a call for nations to work together more closely on climate change, public health, artificial intelligence, and economic security.