On Wednesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi became the first prime minister of India to feature on the cover of Newsweek after former PM Indira Gandhi.
Former Prime minister Indira Gandhi too featured on the cover of Newsweek’s April 1966 issue as the first Indian PM to do so.
The New York-based magazine has interviewed PM Modi who addressed Newsweek’s written questions and followed up with a 90-minute conversation. During the interview, PM Modi talked about China, global economy and India’s economic policies.
PM Modi lauds his govt. policies
“India, as a democratic polity and global economic growth engine, is a natural choice for those looking to diversify their supply chains. We have undertaken transformative economic reforms: Goods and Service Tax, corporate tax reduction, bankruptcy code, reforms in labour laws, and relaxation in FDI norms. As a result, we have made significant improvements in ease of doing business,” Modi told Newsweek.
"I feel negativity has a low shelf life…. On the other hand, positivity is perennial."
🔴 EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: How Narendra Modi is changing India and the world@NarendraModi | @PMOIndia | @TellDM | @NancyCooperNYC
Read more: https://t.co/7MV4lqT15M pic.twitter.com/YksgPpnPKd
— Newsweek (@Newsweek) April 10, 2024
In addition to that, he said that when a when a country with one-sixth of the world’s population adopts global standards in these sectors, it will have a big positive impact on the world.
“Our policies that encourage businesses and entrepreneurship, coupled with world-class infrastructure and availability of skilled talent have yielded results. We have major global manufacturing entities setting up shops in India. Given our strengths, India is now globally considered most suited for manufacturing world-class goods at a competitive cost. Apart from producing for the world, the vast Indian domestic market is an added attraction.”
Narendra Modi only 2nd Indian PM after Indira Gandhi to be on the cover of Newsweek.
And finally, an article in the western mainstream media that at least acknowledges that Bharat and Modi are unstoppable. pic.twitter.com/tvXzw42eHo
— Rahul Shivshankar (@RShivshankar) April 10, 2024
PM speaks on minorities, China, and upcoming elections
Modi also talked about a host of issues including the upcoming Lok Sabha polls, ties with Pakistan, Quad, Ram temple and democracy, among others. He urged for solving border tensions with China.
On the upcoming Lok Sabha polls, Modi said his government has an excellent track record of fulfilling promises.
During the interview, PM Modi rubbished the claims of discrimination against religious minorities in the India as “usual tropes” spread by those “who don’t bother to meet people outside their bubble”.
“For the first time in our country, our government has come up with a unique saturation coverage approach when it comes to schemes and initiatives,. They are not restricted for a group of people belonging to a particular community or a geography”, the weekly quoted Modi saying.
“More than one million polling stations would be set up across India. Constantly increasing voter participation is a big certificate for the people’s faith in Indian democracy. A democracy like India is able to move ahead and function only because there is a vibrant feedback mechanism. And our media plays an important role in this regard. We have around 1.5 lakh (150,000) registered media publications and hundreds of news channels,” he said.
