Prime Minister Narendra Modi delivered a keynote address at the 23rd Hindustan Times Leadership Summit (HTLS) 2025, emphasizing India’s resilience and self-confidence in a world beset by challenges. Speaking under the theme “Transforming Tomorrow,” the Prime Minister outlined a vision of proactive reforms, the eradication of colonial mindsets, and the empowerment of women as key pillars for India’s growth trajectory toward a Vikshit Bharat by 2047.
In his address at the summit held in New Delhi, PM Modi highlighted how India is “appearing in a different league” amid global slowdowns and trust crises. “When the world talks about slowdown, India writes stories of growth… when the world faces trust crisis, India becomes a pillar of trust,” he said, underscoring the country’s full self-confidence. PM Modi added that “India shines in a world full of uncertainties,” positioning the nation as a beacon of stability and progress.
“We are at a juncture, where one fourth of the 21st century has passed, and the world has seen many ups and downs during this period – financial crisis, global pandemic, technological disruptions and these situations in some way or the other challenged the world,” the PM noted.
Talking about Indian economy, he said that the current growth rate of 8 per cent “is a reflection of the new momentum of our progress”. The PM said, “These are not just numbers. They are strong macroeconomic signals. They convey that India is rising as a key growth driver of the global economy today.”
A central theme of the speech was the shift in India’s reform paradigm, saying that “Today’s reforms are driven by the idea of nation first.” PM Modi noted that positive changes in the tax structure, such as GST reforms and income tax cuts, are no longer “reactionary” responses to crises but are proactively driven by the “idea of nation first.” “This was unthinkable a decade ago,” he remarked, pointing to consistent improvements across sectors where “our speed is constant, direction is consistent, intent is nation first.”
The Prime Minister also slammed attempts to link the Hindu faith with slow economic growth rates with the term ‘Hindu rate of growth’, whether “communalism” was not seen when this term was used. He said that now when India is growing at 7-8%, nobody calls it Hindu rate of growth. “The term Hindu rate of growth was used when India was struggling for 2-3% of growth. Entire society tagged with unproductivity, poverty. Slow progress was being attributed to Hindu sabhyata, Hindu culture,” he said slamming colonial mindset behind such terminology.
“The term Hindu rate of growth was used when India was struggling for 2-3% of growth. Entire society tagged with unproductivity, poverty. Slow progress was being attributed to Hindu sabhyata, Hindu culture,” PM @narendramodi slams colonial mindset#TransformingTomorrow #HTLS2025 pic.twitter.com/Zn5I9NpDGm
— Hindustan Times (@htTweets) December 6, 2025
“The slave mentality was so rampant that people sitting in the government started believing that weapons made in India were not strong. And this turned India into the world’s largest arms importer,” PM Modi further added.
In the speech, PM Modi set an ambitious 10-year deadline to purge the “colonial mindset” from every corner of the country, urging a collective effort to foster indigenous pride and innovation. “We have to make the country rid of the colonial mindset from every corner. I want to take the citizens forward with the vision for the next 10 years. And in these 10 years, we have to rid the country of this colonial mindset,” he said.
He also celebrated the rise of “nari shakti” (women’s power), crediting government initiatives for enhancing women’s roles in leadership, entrepreneurship, and decision-making as a transformative force for national development.
