PM Modi has the unique ability of balancing short-term goals with long-term vision for India, says expert

On the occasion of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s 75th birthday, experts have lauded his leadership style and long-term vision for the country.

R Balasubramaniam, Member of the Capacity Building Commission, said Modi’s leadership stands out because of his ability to balance immediate priorities with long-term national goals. “Very few political leaders, and possibly none today except Prime Minister Modi, can balance short-termism with long-termism. He can think of the next month, the next elections, and also think about Bharat 25 years later,” he said.

Balasubramaniam added that Modi’s tenure has given citizens a renewed sense of pride. “The first and most important is that today every Indian feels proud to say, ‘I’m an Indian.’ We have a global identity, and the inferiority complex we suffered from for generations is getting dismantled today,” he noted. He also pointed to the growth of startups, advances in space and defence, and programmes like Make in India and Startup India as proof of transformation over the past decade.

Meanwhile, industry leader Baba Kalyani, Chairman and MD of Bharat Forge, praised Modi for pushing defence manufacturing and strengthening international relationships. “He was the one who pushed defence manufacturing under Make in India and Atmanirbhar Bharat. From December 2014 onwards, several policy changes were made, and tweaks continue even today,” Kalyani said. He added that except for a few areas like jet engines, India has built strong defence capabilities in the last five years.

Kalyani also highlighted Modi’s personal connect with global leaders and his role in shaping stronger India-Japan ties. “Despite being in his third term, he remains humble and values personal relationships. When I met him in Tokyo, he even asked about my health,” he recalled.

Both experts underlined that reforms in science, technology, and innovation will be central to Modi’s legacy as India works towards the goal of becoming a developed nation by 2047.

Below is the excerpt of the discussion.

Q: Let me begin by asking you, what, according to you, makes Prime Minister Modi's leadership different from that of other world leaders?

Balasubramaniam: The substantial differences are quite visible. If you look at world leaders today, very few might have had a 50-year public life, out of which nearly half, or 25 years, has been in government—13 years as chief minister, and now the last 12 years as Prime Minister. This kind of a long innings is not really seen in many world leaders today.

Apart from his approval ratings of more than 75%, he has this unique ability to not only think about something very large and ambitious—his visions are always very ambitious and large for the nation—but also the ability to convert them into concrete reality. Very few leaders can do that. A lot of people announce programmes, but the ability to take them to fruition is not there in everybody.

In the world of policy, we often talk about short-term versus long-term thinking. Very few political leaders, and possibly none today except Prime Minister Modi, can balance short-termism with long-termism. That’s something extraordinary. He can think of the next month, the next elections, and also think about Bharat 25 years later—how the country should look and what it should achieve in that space of time.

More importantly, I think he can relate to people at all levels. He can relate to heads of government, to the common man, to the last-mile citizen. He can relate to industrialists, to children, and we have seen him relate to sports persons. This unique ability to engage across such a wide spectrum is very noteworthy.

Q: I'd also like to ask you: how do you think the country has benefited from 10 years of Prime Minister Modi's leadership?

Balasubramaniam: In several different ways. The first and most important is that today every Indian feels proud to say, "I’m an Indian." We have a global identity, and the inferiority complex we suffered from for generations, because of the colonial legacy, is getting dismantled today.

We now have the courage to dream big. Our young people today can talk of startups and innovations. For example, since the space economy opened up, we have close to 150 young startups in the last two years alone. That’s huge.

The infrastructure push this country has seen in the last 10 years is remarkable. In defence, it’s not just about procurement being streamlined and modernised, but also about learning to produce within India. Programmes like Startup India, Standup India, Make in India, and Made for India are no longer slogans but concrete realities.

The 25-year plan for Viksit Bharat and transformative programmes like Mission Karmayogi, which I am a part of, are shaping the future. The focus on economic diversification is also critical. From the blue economy to the green economy, from defence to space, the past decade has brought huge change—ranging from civilisational pride to quantum computing to green hydrogen. It’s a whole spectrum of transformation.

Q: I’d also like to ask you about the Viksit Bharat programme launched in 2024, aiming at a developed nation by 2047. What is the larger idea behind this blueprint, which would go well beyond the political career of Narendra Modi?

Balasubramaniam: In every politician’s life, announcements are often geared towards the next election. But for Prime Minister Modi, it’s about building a developed India that all of us can be proud of by 2047, a hundred years after independence.

It’s driven by six pillars—economic growth and development, ensuring social needs of citizens are met, investing in human and social capital, institutional and structural reforms like Mission Karmayogi, innovations in areas like space and green hydrogen, and civilisational pride rooted in Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam.

What’s not widely known is that close to half a million people across India contributed to this vision. Citizens participated in programmes where they could express what kind of India they want to see in 25 years. The Prime Minister was clear that this vision should not just be based on the India of today, but the India that future generations will experience.

The NITI Aayog, the Prime Minister’s Office, and every ministry worked together in a democratised process to articulate these dreams and put them into action. It’s phenomenal and unprecedented. Alongside this, reforms like taxation and structural institutional reforms continue to evolve. It’s not just about deciding what needs to be done, but also how, by whom, and ensuring it gets done.

Q: Reforming GST was a major economic agenda of the government, and you had said they had been working on it for the last year. How much of this was personally driven by Prime Minister Modi?

Balasubramaniam: It wasn’t just the last one year. From 2014 onwards, the Prime Minister drove the entire thinking around GST. He gave it conceptual clarity, created the narrative that it’s a nation-building tool and not just a taxation reform, and prepared citizens mentally for it.

He used his political capital to talk to allies, non-allies, and chief ministers across the country, emphasising that “we are all in this together.” He maintained constant dialogue with finance ministers—from Mr. Arun Jaitley earlier to Ms. Nirmala Sitharaman now—and officials in the finance ministry. His personal oversight was visible throughout.

To me, this is leadership in action. Convincing so many states to come on board was a real exercise of cooperative federalism. He also recognised that bottlenecks in economic transition could come from taxation, so reforming both direct and indirect taxes was essential. GST today is the visible outcome of that vision.

Q: You’ve had a ringside view of Prime Minister Modi’s leadership. You were a key member of the delegation when Prime Minister Modi travelled to Japan in his first term. Give us a sense of how you’ve seen him grow as Prime Minister. He’s now in his third term, but what did you observe in those initial meetings with foreign leaders and businesses?

Kalyani: It’s important to understand that in today’s volatile world order, we need to salute his resolve to place Bharat’s interests paramount, aligned with an India-first agenda. The people of India have reposed great trust and faith in him, and deeply appreciate his dedicated and selfless service to drive inclusive growth and development.

Talking about my visits with him to Japan—I have travelled with him at least 10 times. I was there just a few weeks ago for the India-Japan Business Leaders Forum, where I co-chaired the Indian side. Despite being in his third term, he remains humble and values personal relationships. When I met him in Tokyo, he even asked about my health.

But more than that, he creates a strong impression on Japanese business leaders and politicians. He had built a very special relationship with Abe-san. Unfortunately, Abe is no more, but that relationship has played a great role in strengthening industrial and strategic ties between India and Japan over the last 10 years.

Q: Let’s talk about defence manufacturing. This has been a major capex focus of the government. How do you see the Prime Minister’s contribution to growing the defence manufacturing base in India? What more do you expect in the next three to four years?

Kalyani: He was the one who pushed defence manufacturing under Make in India and Atmanirbhar Bharat. From December 2014 onwards, several policy changes were made, and tweaks continue even today.

The private sector has received a big boost, and in just five to six years has been able to build huge capabilities. Today, there are only three or four items we don’t make. For example, we still don’t make jet engines for fighter aircraft, but that’s not far away.

In the last five years, we have cracked most land system problems. We’ve built artillery guns, unmanned systems, and all kinds of ammunition. Except for a couple of areas, we are now very strong in defence capability.

The one big ask I have is for faster decision-making. In today’s world, where technology evolves every three months with AI and digitalisation, decisions in defence must be made quickly. Speed is key to making the defence sector far more vibrant than it is now.

Q: India is in a difficult yet advantageous position. Every crisis presents an opportunity. With geopolitical tensions and tariff uncertainty, Prime Minister Modi recently had a positive conversation with President Trump that put the relationship back on track. How do you see his handling of ties with the US over the last few months?

Kalyani: Fundamentally, I believe he has the capability to handle this. That’s the sense we get even from our customers in the US—they’re confident this problem will be resolved sooner rather than later, and that India could even gain from it.

The recent meeting, from what I read in the press, gave positive indications. Both sides seem ready to solve this problem. It’s a win-win situation. The US cannot afford to neglect India, given the size and growth of our market. Similarly, India cannot neglect the US. I am quite sure this issue will be resolved in the near future.

Q: If you had to name one key reform that Prime Minister Modi would be remembered for, which would that be? And what is the one major reform push you expect from him going forward?

Kalyani: I’d say two reforms, if I may.

The first, of course, is Make in India. Every Indian is familiar with it and knows what it has achieved.

The second, which is very important for achieving the Viksit Bharat targets of 2047, is the set of reforms in science, technology, and innovation. I serve on the Prime Minister’s Science, Technology and Innovation Council, so I’ve seen this up close.

Take the electronics policy or the semiconductor policy. We missed the electronics boom in the early 1980s, but now we’re catching up fast. Once semiconductor manufacturing takes off in India, it will create many more industries and opportunities.

His focus on science, technology, and innovation is a major reform. For example, the ₹20,000 crore fund made available to the private sector for research is a huge step in this direction.

Watch accompanying video for entire discussion.