Modi put it down to speed, scale and credibility. Speaking to the Indian community here, he made the case that we are in a time of change and that India’s reach is only going to get wider. A self-assured, tech-savvy economy, he says, is what will make us a leader in sport, industry and energy.
Modi summarised the direction through four headline goals:
– Build a global green energy hub
– Host the Olympics
– Emerge as the world’s growth engine
– Become a major manufacturing hub
“Aspirations are unlimited in India and efforts are also becoming limitless,” he put it, making of ambition a kind of edge.
Technology as the flywheel
There is a lot of talent to back this up. “Our youth are at it in AI, in defence, in space, and because of them we have the third-biggest start-up scene in the world,” he said.
Then there are the hard numbers. Work is in progress on 12 semiconductor facilities, with two already churning out product. “Chips will be Designed in India and Made in India,” he told us, a nod to the kind of self-reliance he wants to see.
He was also keen to show how India has been using technology in its diplomacy. Take the AI Summit we put on recently – by any measure, the biggest and most well-received of its kind. “These were not one-time events. This has now become the character of today’s India.”
Modi’s message suggested that technology, manufacturing, and green energy will anchor India’s next phase, with sports diplomacy adding a symbolic capstone in the form of an Olympic bid. The following developments signal how the agenda is being operationalised:
– Work is underway on 12 semiconductor plants
– Production has begun in two of these plants
– India organised the most successful and biggest AI Summit
Institutions at scale and execution signals
You can see it in the digital side of things too. We have put in place the largest ID programme in the world and the most far-reaching financial inclusion effort. On top of that, we run the world’s largest government-backed health insurance plan. The rate of digitalisation you see in India is something you don’t find anywhere else.
Historical framing and the diaspora connect
It is also a moment to look back. This is 12 years since I first became Prime Minister. He reminded everyone of May 16, 2014, when the Lok Sabha results came in and, for the first time in a long while, we had a government with an unassailable majority. “The trust of crores of Indians does not let me stop or tire,” he said. That is what keeps the work going.
And for the Indians of the diaspora, there is the common thread of culture. He commended those in the Netherlands for holding on to their ways, for the way the old values and the songs and the festivals have stuck with them through the years.
What to track from here
"Today, India is dreaming big,” he said from The Hague. With the right mix of young innovators and the ability to deliver, he is confident those dreams will have some staying power on the world stage.
