0:06 We are a startup nation. We are a space power
0:07 power
0:14 A country that negotiates with Washington,
0:16 Washington,
0:29 bills with Tokyo and still finds time to
0:38 New India does not ask for a seat at the
0:41 table. We build the table and tell the
0:49 And whatever I've said so far is not rhetoric.
0:51 rhetoric.
0:54 It is our reality which is reflected in
0:59 And I'm a big fan of storytelling with numbers.
1:01 numbers.
1:05 Last quarter, our GDP grew at 7.8%. [Applause]
1:10 [Applause]
1:12 And this happened at a time when the US
1:15 is staring at a slowdown. You must have
1:19 seen the latest Fitch report.
1:21 It also happened at a time when Europe
1:25 is flirting with recession. When China
1:27 is struggling with the weight of its
1:29 debt burden,
1:31 India is running. [Applause]
1:36 [Applause]
1:39 Last month, UPI crossed 20 billion
1:42 transactions. Total value more than 24
1:48 It's a world record and we are far from done.
1:54 India is the world's fourth largest economy
1:55 economy
1:57 on course to becoming the third largest
2:00 by 2027 behind just US and China ahead
2:06 And our story, ladies and gentlemen, is
2:09 not just about size.
2:12 It is about scale,
2:20 Our digital economy is exploding.
2:22 Our space mission
2:24 is landing near the south pole of the moon.
2:26 moon.
2:28 Our startups are valued in billions. We
2:30 have more than 100 unicorns now in our country.
2:32 country. Our
2:34 Our
2:37 diaspora remittances crossed $135
2:40 billion last year, the highest in the world.
2:43 world.
2:46 This is New India.
2:48 A country once written off as a basket
2:52 case is today called a bright spot in
3:09 I can think of five D's.
3:12 My first D is demography.
3:14 Half our population is under 30 years of age.
3:16 age.
3:18 Yes, they spend too much time on Instagram
3:24 and they also want a promotion in the
3:26 first month in office. [Applause]
3:27 [Applause]
3:30 But they're ambitious.
3:31 They're unafraid.
3:34 They're entrepreneurial.
3:36 They are hungry to make a mark. And that
3:40 is our strength that we must celebrate. [Applause]
3:43 [Applause]
3:47 My second D is democracy.
3:49 In a world that is drifting towards authoritarianism,
3:51 authoritarianism,
3:54 India stands out.
3:56 We are very chaotic. We argue, we
3:59 disagree, we protest, we vote.
4:01 But we move on. We've always had a
4:09 And sometimes it feels like
4:16 But we must remember that democracy is
4:18 also what saves us. It is what makes us
4:22 who we are. A noisy, chaotic family of
4:25 1.4 billion people. [Applause]
4:28 [Applause]
4:36 22 official languages,
4:39 hundreds of dialects
4:48 India is not a melting pot.
4:52 We are a very big thali
4:55 where every dish retains its unique
4:58 taste and together it makes a meal.
5:02 The fourth D is digital power.
5:05 From Aadhaar to UPI,
5:08 India is building a digital public
5:11 infrastructure at scale.
5:14 We have shown that technology can
5:16 deliver inclusion and in such large numbers.
5:23 My fifth D is diaspora. 35 million
5:27 Indians abroad. Policy makers, CEOs of
5:29 global giants,
5:34 doctors, engineers, entrepreneurs.
5:37 They are India's brand ambassadors.
5:41 No PR agency can match them.
5:43 Now if you put these 5Ds together,
5:47 demography, democracy, diversity,
5:54 what you get is a country that is not
5:56 just a regional player. It is a global power.
6:04 Not just a market,
6:07 but a shaper of rules.
6:18 But we cannot operate in isolation. So
6:19 we have to step out of our borders, look
6:22 at our neighborhood
6:28 Our world is changing fast,
6:38 American uniolarity is over.
6:41 Chinese ascendancy is facing headwinds.
6:45 Europe is struggling for relevance.
6:58 Africa is demanding long overdue attention.
6:59 attention.
7:03 Latin America is looking for partners.
7:05 The institutions created after the
7:08 Second World War are showing their age.
7:09 Today, the United Nations Security
7:12 Council does not reflect the realities
7:15 of 2025. It reflects the realities of 1945.
7:16 1945. [Applause]
7:23 [Applause]
7:24 The World Trade Organization is
7:26 struggling to function.
7:29 The IMF and the World Bank face
7:36 Technology is redrawing power maps
7:38 faster than diplomats can update their
7:41 talking points.
7:43 Artificial intelligence,
7:46 quantum computing, biotechnology, these
7:49 are not buzzwords.
7:51 These are the new currencies of global influence.
7:53 influence.
7:56 Climate change, it does not respect
7:58 national borders. It does not respect protocol.
8:00 protocol.
8:03 It creates new vulnerabilities, new
8:06 conflicts, new migration patterns.
8:08 And everywhere
8:10 nationalism is resurgent, not always in
8:16 The promise of borderless globalization
8:25 This is not a stable world order.
8:29 This is a world in transition
8:31 where rules are being rewritten, power
8:34 is being redistributed
8:41 And for decades, India was a recipient
8:45 of these changes. We adapted to what the
8:49 world decided and did.
8:52 But today we have the opportunity and
8:54 why just opportunity I would say today
8:56 we have the responsibility
9:06 So the question is how do we do that?
9:09 We do it with a domestic policy that
9:11 does justice to our talent and our aspirations
9:14 aspirations
9:19 and a foreign policy that is bold, agile
9:21 and unapologetic. [Applause]
9:31 Look at the G20 in Delhi. India was the
9:33 chair last year.
9:36 We put the global south at the center of
9:38 the conversation.
9:41 Look at bricks. Look at the quad. Look
9:44 at the SEO.
9:52 Sometimes competing,
9:54 sometimes cooperating,
9:56 always balancing and always consequential.
10:09 we engage with everyone, but we depend
10:20 And our biggest commitment
10:22 is to our national interest. [Applause]
10:27 [Applause]
10:31 And it's not easy to walk this path
10:32 especially in a neighborhood as
10:34 difficult as ours. I would say South
10:36 Asia is one of the most volatile regions
10:38 in the world today. Look at the past 3
10:41 years. Coup in Myanmar,
10:44 economic collapse in Sri Lanka, radical
10:46 takeover in Bang Bangladesh and I'm sure
10:48 you followed what happened in Nepal this week.
10:54 Nepal is our clo closest neighbor and
11:02 This week it was in turmoil.
11:03 The government tried to ban social
11:07 media. Gen Z hit the streets.
11:09 Dozens of people died. Protesters
11:10 clashed with the police. The prime
11:12 minister had to resign. Now they have an
11:13 interim government in place. Social
11:21 But Nepal's fault clients
11:24 have not been addressed.
11:29 And for India this these stories are not
11:32 abstracts. They have real consequences
11:34 for us.
11:42 To our west, we have a terror state
11:45 called Pakistan. [Applause]
11:48 [Applause]
11:49 First time I'm hearing people cheering
11:52 for Pakistan. [Applause]
11:55 [Applause]
11:57 We have Afghanistan that is ruled by the Taliban
11:59 Taliban
12:00 and we have China which remains our
12:02 biggest challenge. I think the
12:05 handshakes in Tanjin will not change
12:15 our friendship may be framed on paper,
12:18 India and China,
12:21 but the reality is steel and barbed wire
12:25 along the LAC. And we must remember that
12:28 China wants Asia for itself. India says
12:30 there's room for all of us to grow. And
12:32 that contest
12:39 And what makes life even more complicated
12:42 complicated
12:44 is the uncertainty around us. I've
12:46 recently learned a new term called vaua.
12:50 Have you heard of vaua? Vu ca.
12:54 V for vulnerability, U for uncertainty,
12:57 C for complexity, and A for ambiguity.
12:59 They say we live in a vaua world. That's
13:02 vaua for you. In America, they have a
13:04 different name for it. It's Donald
13:19 tariffs have singlehandedly destabilized
13:22 the world.
13:24 He believes, I think he truly believes
13:26 that it's a magic wand,
13:28 but it's proven to be a wrecking ball
13:31 and no one's telling him that.
13:33 He wants to sell us corn and dairy and
13:38 he wants us to stop buying Russian oil.
13:41 So what has India done?
13:45 We continue talking. We pursue a deal
13:48 but we insist on a deal that works for
13:54 Again that's new India for you. We stand
13:55 our ground. [Applause]
14:01 [Applause]
14:04 But the larger point I'm making is this
14:07 that our world is messy
14:10 and our neighborhood is chaotic.
14:13 And it is in this setting that India
14:23 Plus we have our own challenges.
14:24 Challenges that we cannot afford to
14:26 ignore. I will not sugarcoat reality for
14:28 you. I'm sure you did not call me here
14:36 It's important that we do an honest assessment.
14:38 assessment.
14:41 If we are to grow, we must understand
14:44 our strengths and our limitations with
14:50 Because opportunity does not
14:54 automatically translate into achievement
14:56 and potential does not guarantee
15:01 performance. We have to work towards it.
15:03 So I have a list of challenges to I
15:04 think our biggest challenge today is
15:06 jobs. We have millions of people
15:09 entering their most productive years.
15:10 Millions of people entering the
15:14 workforce or the job market every year.
15:17 We talked about demographics and we like
15:19 to think of that as a dividend
15:26 It depends entirely on what we do with
15:31 Our growth is strong. That is undeniable.
15:34 undeniable.
15:36 But manufacturing jobs are not and
15:38 services cannot absorb everyone. [Applause]
15:42 [Applause]
15:43 There's been an aggressive push to make
15:45 in India. It has delivered on a lot of
15:48 counts. But as things stand even today,
15:51 we still risk skipping the industrial
15:58 And this is linked to our second
16:01 challenge which is human capital.
16:04 You mentioned Sundar Pay. I did not
16:12 So at the top we have created
16:16 sundar pichay and satyanaadillas
16:19 but at the bottom we've also left
16:22 millions behind.
16:24 The education gaps, the health gaps, the
16:26 skill gaps, they're all real and they
16:30 must be addressed urgently.
16:33 Our third challenge is institutions.
16:35 Do you know how many pending court cases
16:38 we have in our country?
16:40 50 million
16:43 50 million. Our justice system is clogged
16:45 clogged
16:48 in a digital world. Our bureaucracy is
16:55 And I don't want to take away from the
16:57 efforts that have been made to boost efficiency.
17:00 efficiency.
17:03 We have made leaps
17:04 and yet
17:07 we have regulations that create
17:19 Our diversity is a strength only if it
17:23 is m maintained and managed well.
17:26 But it's a vulnerability
17:30 if it is exploited by vested interests.
17:33 polarization, inequality, gender gaps.
17:36 These are not social issues.
17:38 These are strategic limitations
17:42 on our national power.
17:44 The fifth is environment. It is a
17:45 challenge. It's a story that repeats
17:48 every year. Delhi chokes. We are bracing
17:51 for that season to come. Chennai floods.
17:54 Farmers face droughts.
17:58 Again, these are present constraints on
18:01 our development.
18:03 And the sixth and my favorite topic,
18:11 Old stereotypes still haunt us. We may
18:12 have reached the moon, but the world is
18:15 still talking about snake charmers, call
18:19 centers, poverty, porn.
18:20 The world often sees us through someone
18:23 else's lens. And that narrative must
18:25 change. And no one else is going to do
18:26 it for us. We have to do it for
18:28 ourselves. We have to take charge of our story
18:34 [Applause]
18:35 and all the challenges that I just
18:38 listed are not reasons for despair.
18:40 I think they should be reasons for determination.
18:42 determination.
18:45 We have to be cleareyed if we want our vision
18:47 vision
18:53 Thankfully for us,
19:01 The great supply chain reorganization is
19:03 underway. I keep talking about it on my
19:06 show. The pandemic and the politics that
19:08 followed has taught the world the risks
19:10 of overdependence on China. So,
19:12 companies are looking for other markets.
19:15 They're relocating and India offers a
19:18 compelling alternative.
19:22 I think the best example is Apple.
19:24 Apple is making iPhones in India. And
19:27 this is not just an investment story.
19:29 When one of the world's most valuable companies
19:36 invests in India, builds in India,
19:38 commits to India, then it's a message to
19:40 the whole world. [Applause]
19:47 [Applause]
19:48 Then we have energy transition. The
19:50 world is talking about clean fuel and
19:52 here India
19:57 is poised to take the leadership role.
20:00 Our renewable capacity is growing
20:01 impressively. Tamil Nad again is a great example.
20:03 example.
20:05 Our potential for solar power is enormous
20:07 enormous
20:10 and our ambitions for green hydrogen are
20:12 substantial. I've already spoken about
20:14 the digital transformation, Aadhaar,
20:18 UPI, Digilocker. We built the pipes.
20:19 Our technology talent is globally
20:21 recognized. But what we need to focus on
20:24 is tech sovereignity.
20:28 We need to build our systems at home
20:30 for ourselves and to share with the
20:32 world. We can't just be creating a big
20:39 And finally, global governance. India
20:44 [Applause]
20:46 Like I said, international institutions
20:48 are outdated.
20:50 Our G20 presidency showed the world what
20:53 is possible.
20:55 We brought the African Union into the
20:58 fold. In a divided world, India has
21:04 And increasingly, the world has come to
21:07 value this role. You see, countries
21:10 across Africa, Latin America, Asia,
21:13 they're looking for partners.
21:15 They're not looking for powers that
21:24 They want partners who respect their
21:26 sovereignity, who share with them
21:28 practical development models. And I
21:30 think India's experience resonates with
21:31 a lot of these countries much more than
21:37 I would also like to add here that
21:40 India's rise is responsible.
21:42 I said that we our commitment is to
21:48 but we also fulfill our international
21:51 responsibility and we showed that during
21:53 the pandemic
21:55 when vaccine nationalism was closing doors
21:57 doors
22:01 we launched vaccine methri [Applause]
22:04 [Applause]
22:07 India sent vaccine doses and medical
22:09 supplies to more than 100 countries
22:14 because our strategy was solidarity.
22:16 On climate, we co-ounded the
22:18 International Solar Alliance. More than
22:20 100 countries are part of it. Again,
22:22 this puts the global south at the heart
22:28 And then of course our digital public
22:30 goods. Countries are increasingly
22:33 learning from them and adopting them. So
22:35 we don't just speak for the global
22:39 south, we also build for it.
22:40 And a big part of what we're building is
22:45 strength including military strength.
22:56 we are offering the world systems which
22:58 are affordable and reliable.
23:02 >> Those who do not know about uh most of
23:05 you know but still I'll I'll I'll give a
23:08 small brief on this uh TV. TV is a media
23:10 channel dedicated to promote and
23:13 protect, preserve the great civilization
23:16 of our land by touching upon all aspects
23:18 such as society, culture, language,
23:22 history, art, literature, science and
23:24 catering to the needs of all sections of
23:27 the society. They have built a very
23:29 successful YouTube channel with about a
23:44 uh Indian perspectives
23:48 uh among a very leftoriented, Marxis
23:51 oriented uh internationally influenced
23:55 uh uh plethora of channels and so we
23:58 want to facilitate Sri Rajesh of uh STV today.
24:00 today.
24:32 We are also giving a small cash award
25:07 The other media that we want to honor
25:10 today is Rare Publications.
25:13 uh rare publications was founded in uh
25:16 2013 and they've been supporting uh
25:20 publishing uh relevant indic
25:23 um they have publications in Tamil as
25:26 well as in Hindi to reach readers in
25:29 multiple languages they operate in Tamil
25:34 Adar and in Hindi they have Adar Praash.
25:36 One of the most impactful contributions
25:38 that uh they have done is by publishing
25:42 the drademay book which has seen a great success.
25:47 This series has emerged as an eye
25:49 openener for Tamil society and for Borat
25:52 as a whole because it's in English and
25:55 uh this has helped dismantle myths about
25:57 the Drevine movement and initiating a
26:00 fresh debate on identity, history and
26:03 politics. Rare publications uh has
26:06 demonstrated its editorial focus,
26:08 determination to present non-fiction
26:10 that challenges dominant narratives,
26:14 documents overlooking truths and equips
26:16 readers with factual clarity. They've
26:18 been nurturing a readership that values
26:20 evidence, tradition, and critical
26:22 thinking. And Vigil wishes them the best
26:24 to continue their mission of cultural
26:26 and intellectual preservation. So we are
26:30 happy to honor them today. [Applause]
26:34 [Applause]
26:55 So, we honor them with a small cash
