As US President Donald Trump has unleashed a tariff war against India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Sunday took a sharp swipe against him. While Rajnath said ‘Sabka boss,’ in apparent reference to US, does not welcome India’s rise as a global power, Modi said the country is moving fast towards becoming the third major economy in the world and this momentum was achieved through the spirit of “reform, perform and transform”.
The Prime Minister’s comments come days after US President Donald Trump’s “India a dead economy,” jibe. Modi said during the past 11 years, India’s economy has grown from the 10th position to the top 5 globally, and is rapidly progressing towards becoming one of the top three economies.
Laying the foundation stone for Bangalore Metro Phase-3 project here and after flagging off three Vande Bharat Express trains and inaugurating the Metro Rail Yellow line, the Prime Minister in his address outlined growth across sectors and said such achievements strengthened the resolve of Aatmanirbhar Bharat.
“We are moving fast to become one of the top three economies of the world. How we got this speed? We got it through the spirit of reform, perform and transform,” he said adding the speed was achieved through clear intention and honest efforts.
Rajnath Singh said, “There are some people who are not happy with the speed at which India is developing. They are not liking it. Sabka boss toh hum hain, how is India growing at such a fast pace?,” the Defence Minister said, reflecting on the diplomatic turbulence following Donald Trump’s 50 per cent tariff and penalty imposed over India’s purchase of Russian oil.
“Many are trying to ensure that products made in India, by Indian hands, become more expensive than those made in other countries, so that when prices rise, the world will stop buying them. This effort is underway. But India is advancing so rapidly that I say with full confidence: no power in the world can now stop India from becoming a major global power,” the minister affirmed in his address after performing bhoomi pujan of a rail coach manufacturing unit of the Bharat Earth Movers Limited (BEML) in Madhya Pradesh’s Raisen district.
The Defence Minister, without naming anyone, said some people do not like the rapid development of India and are unable to digest it.
“They think that we are everyone’s boss and how is India moving forward so fast? Many people are trying to do something, so that when things made by the hands of Indians in India go to countries of the world, they become more expensive than the things made in those countries, and they become so expensive that the people of the world do not buy them,” he said.
As regards infrastructure growth, Prime Minister Modi, meanwhile, said in 2014, metro rail services were confined to just five cities. Today, metro rail networks span over 1,000 kilometres across 24 cities, making India the third-largest metro network globally.
Since independence, till 2014, only 20,000 km rail network had been electrified. During 11 years alone, from 2014 to 2025, it has increased to 40,000 km. Similarly, from 74 airports in 2014, the nation today has more than 160 and likewise, the national waterways have gone up to 30 from only three.
India has also taken a big leap in the education and health sectors. “Till 2014, there were 7 All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) and 387 medical colleges. It has now gone up to 22 AIIMS and 704 medical colleges that are serving the people.”
In the past 11 years, more than a lakh new seats have been added to the medical colleges across the country. The IITs increased from 16 to 23, IIITs from 9 to 25 and IIMs from 13 to 21. Today, there are more opportunities available for students in the higher education sector. As the nation progresses rapidly, the lives of the poor and marginalised are transforming at the same pace.
“Before 2014 the total export was USD 468 billion but today it is USD 824 billion. We used to import mobile phones but now we are the top five exporters of mobile handsets. Our electronic export before 2014 was USD 6 billion which has gone up to USD 38 billion dollars,” Modi said. India’s automobile export before 2014 was USD 16 billion dollar and now it is more than double, making India the fourth major automobile exporter globally.
Further, the Prime Minister said the next big priority should be becoming self-reliant in technology. Indian tech companies have made a mark globally, developing software and products for the entire world.
He also said “India is moving to assume the role of global leadership in the domain of Artificial Intelligence. Semiconductor mission is also gaining pace. India will soon get Made in India chip.”
As regards space missions, he said India has become an example of “low-cost hi-tech space missions”, which means that India is moving ahead in areas of futuristic technologies.
The specialty of such advancement is empowerment of poor and digitisation has reached every village. Through UPI, India accounts for over 50 per cent of the world’s real-time transactions, he underlined.