New Delhi: Countries with a strong production ecosystem inevitably attract global partners, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Thursday, as he showcased India’s recent trade push, including the India–US deal, as the result of sustained economic reforms and a strengthening manufacturing base.
“When you have a strong ecosystem for manufacturing, the world will want to deal with you,” Modi said while replying to a motion of thanks on the President’s address in Rajya Sabha amid opposition uproar.
Framing the current phase as decisive for India’s long-term trajectory, Modi said that the second quarter of this century would be vital in building a Viksit Bharat. India, he said, had moved beyond the “Fragile Five” phase, and was now progressing rapidly towards becoming the world’s third-largest economy, driven by reforms, performance and transformation. “We have moved forward with the reform–perform–transform mantra, and today India has boarded the reform express,” he said.
Trade momentum
Linking external engagement with domestic stability, Modi said that India’s growing ability to conclude trade agreements with developed economies reflected deeper structural changes at home. He said that India was negotiating future-ready trade agreements on more balanced terms, backed by policy stability, predictable regulation and a cleaner financial system. Referring to talks with Europe, Modi described the proposed India–EU trade pact as the “mother of all trade deals,” underscoring its strategic importance.
Coined by US-based investment bank Morgan Stanley in 2013, the “Fragile Five” described Brazil, India, Indonesia, South Africa and Turkey as emerging markets highly exposed to capital outflows, currency weakness and external shocks due to their heavy relaince on foreign capital. These vulnerabilities were laid bare when the US Fed hinted at reducing the pace of bond purchases.
Modi’s statement gains significance as India has signed or announced a total of nine free trade agreements (FTA) since he came to power in 2014. Among the major, big-ticket trade pacts signed or announced by India are agreements with the UK, the EU and the US. India has also inked an FTA with the four-nation European Free Trade Association (EFTA), Oman and concluded talks with New Zealand, and signed the terms of reference to begin negotiations with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).
Modi said that banking sector reforms had helped bring down what he described as a “mountain” of non-performing assets (NPAs) to their lowest level in decades—below 1%—calling it a critical enabler for investment, credit growth and sustainable expansion. He said that this clean-up had strengthened India’s credibility with global partners and created the foundation for deeper trade and investment ties.
He also stressed that India’s renewed global engagement was anchored in future-ready policymaking aimed at correcting the country’s earlier image. “To improve India’s tarnished image, we have focused on future-ready policies,” Modi said, adding that the shift away from ad-hoc decision-making helped build trust in India’s economic direction.
Modi further said that the current phase offered unprecedented opportunities across manufacturing, services and innovation-led sectors. India is securing critical minerals for future generations and placing renewed emphasis on quality and innovation, even where profit margins are lower, to strengthen the global acceptance of Made-in-India products, he said.
India’s economic journey had reached a point where there was no question of reversal. “Now, we are not stopping, nor are we going to look back. We will only look forward,” he said, adding that under the evolving global order, India was moving ahead with speed and confidence as a stable and reliable economic partner in an increasingly fragmented world.
The remarks come amid a renewed push on trade diplomacy. Earlier in the day, Union commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal said that the signing of the joint statement for the first tranche of the India–US bilateral trade agreement is expected in the coming days, after which the US is likely to issue an executive order reducing reciprocal tariffs on Indian goods to 18%. The move is expected to provide relief to exporters and lend momentum to bilateral trade flows.
According to a Lok Sabha reply by minister of state for finance Pankaj Chaudhary on 8 December 2025, India’s banking system has seen a sharp and sustained improvement in asset quality over the past five years. Gross NPAs in public sector banks declined from ₹6.16 trillion, or 9.11% of advances, as of March 2021 to ₹2.84 trillion, or 2.58%, by March 2025, while private sector banks reduced NPAs from 4.94% to 1.75% over the same period.