Prime Minister Narendra Modi, addressing the 23rd edition of the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit on Saturday, projected India as a stable and confident nation capable of acting as a “bridge builder” amid global fragmentation and uncertainty.
Speaking on the theme of ‘Transforming Tomorrow,’ the Prime Minister contrasted India’s current growth trajectory with a world struggling with crises and trust deficits.1
“We are at a juncture, where $1/4^{th}$ of the 21st century has passed, and the world has seen many ups and downs—financial crisis, global pandemic, etc.,” PM Modi stated. “These situations in some way or the other challenged the world… today the world is full of uncertainties, but amid this, our India is appearing in a different league.2 India is full of self-confidence.”
Growth and Trust Amid Uncertainty
PM Modi underscored India’s pivotal role in the global economy, emphasizing that the country stands apart from the prevailing narratives of slowdown and crisis.3
- On Growth: “When the world talks about slowdown, India writes stories of growth.”4
- On Trust: “When the world faces a trust crisis, India becomes a pillar of trust.”5
The Prime Minister asserted that India’s growth is driven by fundamental changes in mindset and policy, focused on national goals rather than reactionary politics.6
Rejecting the “Hindu Rate of Growth”
In a sharp political comment, PM Modi criticized the historical use of the term “Hindu rate of growth” to describe India’s slow economic progress in previous decades.7 The term, coined by economist Raj Krishna, referred to the low average GDP growth rate recorded between the 1950s and 1980s.8
The Prime Minister stated that this term was an attempt to malign an entire way of life and culture.
“There is an attempt to malign the Hindu way of life by terming India’s slow growth a few decades ago as the Hindu rate of growth,” the Prime Minister added.9 “The entire society was given the tag of unproductivity, poverty.10 There were attempts to prove that the reason for the slow progress of India is Hindu sabhyata, Hindu culture.”11
He suggested that the economic mismanagement of past regimes, which practiced a “License Raj” system, was wrongly attributed to the Hindu community.12 The Prime Minister is now asserting that the world is witnessing the “Bharat rate of growth,” with India emerging as the fastest-growing major economy.13