India shifts from growth story to trusted global partner, says PM Modi

At GEC 2026, PM Modi says India is emerging as a stabilising global partner amid uncertainty, as Jaishankar warns of weaponised trade and Fadnavis positions Mumbai as a financial anchor

India is seeking to position itself as a stabilising force in a world marked by geopolitical churn and economic uncertainty, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in a message to the Global Economic Cooperation (GEC) 2026 in Mumbai.

“As the world looks for steady leadership in uncertain times, India stands out as a beacon of hope,” Modi said, pointing to the country’s ability to sustain high growth alongside low inflation. India, he said, has evolved into “a confident and credible voice of the Global South, shaping global conversations and contributing to a more balanced and inclusive world order.” Digital public infrastructure, he added, has allowed India to take welfare “to the maximum number of people, leaving none behind, with transparency and accountability.”

 

Modi described the GEC platform as an opportunity to translate that confidence into cooperation. “The GEC Conference can be a vital bridge between economies, connecting ideas, capital and innovation, thereby laying the foundation for a more cooperative and interconnected global economic future,” he said.

The optimism, though, was set against an assessment of how sharply the global landscape is changing. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar warned that the world has entered “a volatile and uncertain era, possibly the most turbulent in living memory,” where long-standing assumptions are being questioned across strategic, political, economic and technological domains.

“The established global order is clearly changing before our very eyes,” Jaishankar said. “Replacements are hard to create and we appear to be headed for a long twilight zone. This will be messy, risky, unpredictable, perhaps even dangerous.” In this environment, he noted, countries are increasingly witnessing the “weaponisation of production, weaponisation of finance, leveraging of market shares and tightening of export controls.” 

Narendra Modi

               

Against this backdrop, Jaishankar argued that de-risking and diversification are no longer optional. “The argument for de-risking across the entire spectrum, from sourcing to production and to markets, is becoming more compelling by the day,” he said, adding that India’s response has been to build national capabilities while engaging partners “from a position of strength.” Economic security, he stressed, is best served through stronger self-reliance combined with trusted partnerships.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis linked this global recalibration directly to India’s domestic economic geography, placing Mumbai and the state at the heart of the country’s strategic ambitions. “Global trade growth is undergoing a major upheaval,” Fadnavis said. “Supply chains are reorganising. Strategic sectors—semiconductors, energy, food, rare earths, AI—are now embedded in national security doctrines. Capital flows are increasingly guided by geopolitical alignment, not just returns.”

 

“This is the era of economic statecraft,” he added, “and in this era India’s rise is not accidental — it is structural.” Maharashtra, Fadnavis argued, is central to that rise. “If India is a growth story, Maharashtra is its primary balance sheet,” he said, citing the state’s contribution of about 14–15 per cent to India’s GDP, nearly 20 per cent of industrial output, and over 60 per cent of container traffic through western ports. Mumbai, he said, offers “depth, transparency, regulation and scale” at a time when financial resilience has become critical.

Industry leaders reinforced the sense that global business is adjusting to a more fractured, risk-conscious world. Baba Kalyani, chairman and managing director of Bharat Forge, said recent global forums have underlined that the world is not merely in transition, but facing a rupture. “Businesses, governments and societies are staring at uncertainties and some massive changes that are beginning to take shape in the world order today,” he said.