‘We do not grow at anyone’s cost’: PM Modi warns against weaponising supply chains, energy and tech

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday warned that supply chains, energy, critical minerals, payments and technology were increasingly being “weaponised”, while pitching India as a reliable partner amid growing uncertainty in the global economy.

Addressing the Bloomberg New Economy Forum in New Delhi, PM Modi said the networks built through decades of globalisation were becoming potential vulnerabilities as countries faced disruptions to trade, energy supplies and access to critical resources.

“We do not grow at anyone’s cost. We grow with the world and for the world,” Modi said, outlining India’s approach to global economic cooperation.

The forum, being held in India for the first time, brings together business leaders, policymakers and investors to discuss the forces reshaping the global economy.

PM Modi warns of globalisation’s ‘choke points’

PM Modi said the world had faced a series of overlapping challenges in recent years, including the Covid-19 pandemic, regional conflicts and growing obstacles to trade, energy supplies and access to critical minerals.

“Things that connected the world at one time are today being weaponized, be it supply chains or energy, be it minerals or payments or technology, they are all becoming tools for coercion and for exerting pressure,” he said.

He said that the networks created through globalisation could become vulnerabilities when countries use their control over essential resources and infrastructure to exert pressure on others.

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“We are all seeing when and where the roots created by globalization over the last few decades became choke points,” Modi said.

The remarks come amid concerns over geopolitical tensions, energy security and the resilience of global supply chains. Disruptions to these networks can raise costs for businesses, delay production and affect access to essential raw materials and components.

Modi said the world needed confidence that supplies would remain uninterrupted during crises and that countries would honour their commitments to partners.

“The confidence that supplies will continue uninterrupted in times of need. The confidence that promises made will also be kept. The confidence that partner countries will stand by us in times of need,” he said.

India pitches itself as a reliable partner

Against this backdrop, Modi presented India as a country seeking to expand its economic capabilities while contributing to the needs of other nations.

“When the world needs affordable medicines, one in five generic medicines comes from India. When you want digital identity and payment solutions, you see the model developed in India. When the world needs talent, it has confidence in India’s skilled youth,” he said.

Modi also highlighted the presence of more than 2,000 global capability centres in India, which provide services to companies worldwide.

He said India did not seek to advance its economic interests at the expense of other countries, but wanted to contribute to solutions for shared global challenges.

‘Technology must benefit more people’

A central theme of the address was what Modi described as the “power to empower”, arguing that technological progress should create opportunities for millions rather than concentrate benefits among a privileged few.

“Today, technology is power. Data is power. Knowledge is power. Innovation is power,” he said.

“But the real question is not who has the power. The real question is how is this power being used?”

PM Modi cited India’s digital transformation as an example of how technology could widen access to economic opportunities. He said affordable mobile data had enabled students in smaller cities to access digital learning, helped shopkeepers in villages reach new customers and allowed young people to enrol in online courses.

He also pointed to India’s digital payments ecosystem, which allows small street vendors and large businesses to use the same infrastructure.

India was sharing its experience in digital public infrastructure with other countries, particularly in the Global South, to help them develop systems suited to their needs, he said. Modi also cited the Covid platform developed during the pandemic as an example of technology being used to expand access to public services.

On innovation, he said India had more than 250,000 startups, compared with a few hundred before 2014. About half were based in smaller cities and towns, while more than 45 per cent had at least one woman director or partner, he added.

PM Modi cites growth, reforms to underline economic resilience

PM Modi also pointed to India’s economic performance and policy reforms as evidence of its resilience amid global uncertainty.

He cited economic growth of 7.8 per cent in the April-June quarter of 2026-27 and foreign exchange reserves of more than $700 billion. He also said the country’s current account deficit had narrowed significantly from levels recorded more than a decade ago.

The prime minister described India’s banking system as being on its strongest footing in decades and said the country was continuing to pursue reforms to improve the business environment.

He cited the Goods and Services Tax (GST), the insolvency framework and the consolidation of 29 labour laws into four labour codes. He also referred to the decriminalisation of hundreds of minor offences related to businesses.

“Reforms are not a compulsion. Reforms are our conviction,” PM Modi said.