Words The Size Of The Man

In the first speech by an Indian prime minister at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in nearly two decades, Narendra Modi invoked his favourite verses from the Isha Upanishad such as ‘Vasudhaiva kutumbakam’ (the world is one big family), not just to welcome foreign investment and investors into the country but also to assure them that India is now a changed place to do business in.

- Rajeev Dubey

To this gathering of some of the world’s biggest CEOs, whose combined turnover would exceed $3 trillion, Modi chose to deliver his message of hope in Hindi, as the sun finally shone for the first time after three days of incessant snowfall on the ski resort of Davos. But not before the snowfall had caused widespread traffic jams and set back Prime Minister Modi’s schedule by a couple of hours—he had to take the road to Davos from Zurich airport instead of a helicopter. The resultant two-and-a-half-hour delay had a cascading effect on engagements stacked up till the late evening, when he was hosting over 60 chosen CEOs at Hotel InterContinental.

Beginning his address with this year’s theme at the WEF—‘Shared Future in a Fractured World’—Prime Minister Modi quickly moved on to a more states manly register, talking about ‘the three biggest challenges for humanity’—climate change, terrorism and reverse globalisation.