Narendra Modi

New Capabilities

Inaugurated Inya VoiceOS and AI Impact Summit 2026

India has 22 official languages and over a thousand dialects, but until recently, none of the world's leading AI systems could reliably understand most of them. On February 17, 2026, Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated Inya VoiceOS, a 5-billion-parameter voice-to-voice AI model that processes speech natively in more than 15 Indian languages—built, trained, and deployed entirely within India.

Updated 14 minutes ago

Rule Changes

Serving third consecutive term

India has been the world's second-largest buyer of Russian oil since 2022, snapping up discounted crude while Western nations sanctioned Moscow. On February 2, 2026, Trump announced that Modi agreed to stop these purchases in exchange for US tariff cuts from 50% to 18%, ending a trade war that escalated for nearly a year.

Updated 29 minutes ago

New Capabilities

Third consecutive term; architect of Make in India initiative

For decades, India's aerospace manufacturing remained almost entirely in government hands. Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, the state-owned monopoly established in 1940, built every military aircraft and helicopter on Indian soil.

Updated 1 hour ago

Built World

Serving third term as Prime Minister

Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the Jal Jeevan Mission from the Red Fort on Independence Day 2019. At launch, 16.7% of rural Indian households had tap water; six years later, it's 81.6% (157.9 million homes) and roughly 12.5 crore (125 million) new connections, one of history's fastest and largest infrastructure expansions.

Updated 2 days ago

Rule Changes

Hosting Rubio for same-day bilateral

The Quad foreign ministers met in New Delhi on May 26 and produced three concrete agreements: a joint critical minerals framework, an Indo-Pacific maritime surveillance initiative, and the Quad's first joint infrastructure project — a port in Fiji. Rubio called the trade deal 'on the verge.'

Updated 3 days ago

Rule Changes

Leading government response to Economic Survey 2026

India surpassed Japan in mid-2025 to become the world's fourth-largest economy. On February 1, 2026, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented Union Budget 2026 (India's first major tax code rewrite since 1961), with ₹12.2 lakh crore for capital expenditure and ₹20,000 crore for carbon capture technologies.

Updated 6 days ago

Rule Changes

Hosted EU leaders for Summit and Republic Day

India and the European Union became strategic partners in 2004. At the 16th EU-India Summit on January 27, 2026, they signed a Security and Defence Partnership, making India the third Asian country (after Japan and South Korea) to gain formal access to European defence initiatives. They also concluded a historic free trade agreement (covering 2 billion people and a $27 trillion combined market) that enters force in 2027, giving Indian firms access to the EU's €150 billion SAFE rearmament programme.

Updated 6 days ago

Built World

Serving third term, flagship infrastructure agenda

India's railways date to 1853, when the first train ran 21 miles from Bombay to Thane under British colonial rule. For 170 years, long-distance overnight travel meant cramped, aging coaches.

Updated May 21

Rule Changes

Concluded FTA negotiations with EU; announced deal alongside von der Leyen and Costa on January 27

After 19 years, 14 formal rounds, and a January sprint that defied skeptics, India and the European Union concluded their free trade agreement on January 26, 2026. EU leaders Ursula von der Leyen and António Costa, attending India's Republic Day as chief guests, jointly announced the deal with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on January 27.

Updated May 20

New Capabilities

Leading India's defense modernization and Israel partnership since 2014

India's Defence Acquisition Council approved an $8.7 billion arms package from Israel in January 2026, headlined by 1,000 SPICE-1000 precision bomb kits (125-kilometer range, GPS-jammed capable), air-to-air missiles, loitering munitions, radars, and networked command systems. India is also acquiring Air LORA missiles (400 kilometers), Ice Breaker missiles (300 kilometers), and Rampage missiles with full technology transfer for domestic production. The purchase makes India Israel's largest defense customer, now accounting for 34% of Israeli arms exports from 2020-2024.

Updated May 19

Rule Changes

Announced central ex‑gratia relief to victims’ families

A fire at the Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub in Arpora, Goa, killed 25 people on December 6, 2025. Indoor fireworks ignited flammable décor in a packed venue with a single narrow exit; about 100 people were trapped inside.

Updated May 10

Built World

Navigating US trade reset and tariff talks alongside steadfast Russia partnership

On December 5, 2025, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi met in New Delhi for the 23rd India–Russia Annual Summit. They unveiled a 'Programme for Economic Cooperation' through 2030 targeting $100 billion in annual trade and diversification beyond oil and arms, including joint weapons production, a urea plant, agriculture, health, shipping, and labor mobility. The agreement includes a free trade pact with the Eurasian Economic Union despite looming US sanctions.

Updated May 9

Money Moves

Secures US trade deal reducing tariffs to 18%, easing rupee/trade pressures alongside fiscal support

In 2025, under Governor Sanjay Malhotra, the RBI cut its repo rate by a cumulative 125 basis points—from 6.50% in February to 5.25% on December 5. It was the sharpest easing since 2019. The cuts came with $16 billion in liquidity injections via bond purchases and a dollar-rupee swap, which Malhotra called a rare Goldilocks period of sub-target inflation and strong growth.

Updated May 9

Force in Play

Government weighing diplomatic and defense response to Beijing's admission

For a year, Beijing said it was not on the battlefield. On May 8, 2026, China's state broadcaster aired interviews with two engineers from the Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC) who said they had been stationed at Pakistani airbases during the four-day clash with India in May 2025, working alongside Pakistan Air Force crews flying Chinese-built J-10CE fighters. The admission turns a denial into a record — and the commercial logic behind it was already visible. AVIC's aircraft subsidiary posted first-quarter 2026 revenue up nearly 80 percent year-on-year, with Bangladesh reportedly in a $2.2 billion government-to-government deal for 20 J-10CEs and Indonesia evaluating a larger batch. A jet with a confirmed combat record sells itself.

Updated May 9

Money Moves

Co-architect of Canada-India reset

Sixteen months ago, Canada and India had no ambassadors in each other's capitals. Ottawa had accused New Delhi of orchestrating the assassination of a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil, and both countries expelled six of each other's diplomats in a single day. On March 2, 2026, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi signed five agreements worth $5.5 billion, launched free trade negotiations, and set a target of increasing bilateral trade from $9 billion to $50 billion by 2030.

Updated Mar 2

New Capabilities

Project champion and public face of the initiative

India declared the Asiatic cheetah extinct in 1952—the only large predator to vanish from the country since independence. Seventy years later, the government launched Project Cheetah, flying in 20 African cheetahs from Namibia and South Africa to Kuno National Park in a first-of-its-kind intercontinental carnivore translocation. Three and a half years in, the population has grown to 38, with 27 cubs born on Indian soil.

Updated Feb 18