Palki Sharma

It's a big, bold subject that we're taking up today. And I want to start with a very basic, simple question. What is New India?

It is not a slogan or a PR line. It is a reality that is taking shape before our very eyes. New India is digital, confident, global.

New India is one point four billion people. It's the largest democracy on Earth, the fastest growing major economy, the youngest population in the world, perhaps also the most impatient. We are a startup nation, we are a space power, and we are a voice of the global south.

A country that negotiates with Washington, trades with Moscow, competes with China builds with Tokyo, and still finds time to send mangoes to West Asia. New India does not ask for a seat at the table.

We build a table and tell the world to join. And whatever I've said so far is not rhetoric. It is our reality, which is reflected in our numbers.

And I'm a big fan of storytelling with numbers. Last quarter, our GDP grew at seven point eight percent. And this happened at a time when the US is staring at a slowdown.

You must have seen the latest Fitch report. It also happened at a time when Europe is flirting with recession, when China is struggling with the weight of its debt burden. India is running. Last month, UPI crossed twenty billion transactions, total value more than twenty-four lakh crore rupees.

It's a world record, and we are far from done. India is the world's fourth-largest economy, on course to becoming the third largest by twenty twenty-seven, behind just US and China, ahead of Germany and Japan. And our story, ladies and gentlemen, is not just about size.

It is about scale, scope, and speed. Our digital economy is exploding. Our space mission is landing near the south pole of the moon.