‘From fragile five to global growth engine’: PM Modi slams Congress, says developed nations lining up for India trade deals

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday mounted a sharp attack on the Congress while projecting India as a confident and rising economic power, asserting that developed nations are now eager to strike trade deals with New Delhi because the country has “emerged from doubt and despair.”

Addressing the News18 Rising Bharat Summit, Modi said India’s transformation over the last 11 years has altered how the world views it. “If the country were still counted among the ‘Fragile Five’ and trapped in policy paralysis as before 2013, who would want to strike trade deals with us? No one would even look at us. But today, a confident India is rising,” he said.

₹20 lakh crore annual outgo on key imports


Highlighting the economic rationale behind his government’s push for self-reliance, Modi said India spends over ₹6 lakh crore annually on freight transported by foreign ships, ₹2.25 lakh crore on fertiliser imports, and ₹11 lakh crore on petroleum imports.

“This means lakhs of crores of rupees are flowing out of the country every year. Had this investment been made 20–25 years ago toward self-reliance, it would have strengthened our infrastructure, research, industry, farmers and youth,” he said.



The Prime Minister said the government is strengthening domestic shipping and port infrastructure to reduce freight dependence, setting up new fertiliser plants and promoting nano urea, and prioritising ethanol blending, the Green Hydrogen Mission, solar energy and electric mobility to cut petroleum imports.

“If we manufacture products in India, the coming generation will not speak of imports but of exports,” he said, adding that nation-building requires long-term vision and not short-term political thinking.

Opposition must present alternative vision

Launching a direct political attack, Modi said opposition in a democracy does not mean opposing everything blindly but presenting an alternative vision.

Referring to the Indian Youth Congress’s “shirtless protest” during the recent AI Summit, he said the Congress “not only took off its clothes in front of foreign guests but also exposed its ideological bankruptcy.”

“The AI Summit was a moment of pride for India. Unfortunately, the country’s oldest party attempted to tarnish this national celebration. When angered public opinion turned against them, they invoked Mahatma Gandhi to justify their sins,” he said.

Modi accused Congress of taking refuge in Mahatma Gandhi to hide failures while crediting a single family for achievements. “Congress has now become merely a toolkit for opposition in the name of ideology,” he said.

The Prime Minister said the Congress’s electoral decline began after 1984, when it secured over 400 Lok Sabha seats. “Congress is not being robbed of votes. Rather, the people of this nation no longer consider Congress worthy of their vote,” he said, adding that millennials had already “taught Congress a lesson” and Gen Z was ready to do the same.

He also dismissed criticism of the government’s “Viksit Bharat 2047” roadmap, saying nation-building is never done through short-term thinking. “Some people ask why talk about 2047. Nation-building requires a larger vision, patience and timely decisions,” he said.

India shaping AI revolution

Emphasising India’s growing global stature, Modi said every move India makes is now closely watched worldwide. He cited India’s Digital Public Infrastructure as a global benchmark and said the country is not merely participating in the artificial intelligence revolution but shaping it.

“So far, in every industrial revolution, India and the Global South remained followers. But in this age of AI, India is not only participating, it is shaping the future. We have our own AI start-up ecosystem,” he said.

Asserting that India is determined to regain its rightful strength, Modi said the government will continue working relentlessly toward building an “Atmanirbhar, empowered and prosperous Bharat by 2047,” irrespective of political opposition.

With inputs from ANI