At Davos, ‘India First’ approach takes centrestage, cutting across party lines

DAVOS: Cutting across party lines, all Union ministers, Chief Ministers and other state ministers spoke in one voice to promote India’s growth story at Davos. Even when they otherwise compete with each other for investments and other resources, the leaders spoke in unison putting aside the competitive mindset.

India has sent its largest-ever delegation to the World Economic Forum annual event in Davos, comprising five union ministers and three state chief ministers, besides the government officials and civil society members.

“We may be different political parties, we are all one when we came to Davos”, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister and a key constituent of the BJP-led NDA government in New Delhi, told a press conference in Davos, with many other political leaders from various parties on the same table.

India Takes Center Stage: A Powerful Panel Discussion on ‘Country Strategy Dialogue on India’ at WEF Davos!
CM Devendra Fadnavis, CM N. Chandrababu Naidu, and CM Revanth Reddy led India’s forum at WEF, Davos. Effectively showcased India’s growing potential and its steadfast… pic.twitter.com/WNjhlrHBTy

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“India first, our people first. That is our slogan”, CM Naidu stressed. Naidu said India as a country is well positioned with economic reforms, right time adoption of technology, demographic dividend, stable growth rate, and very strong policies from the government.

“India brand is very strong under the leadership of PM Narendra Modi,” CM Naidu added. He said with leaders from different parties participating in Davos as ‘Team India’, they were giving the right messages to the world.

Taking the thread forward, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis also echoed the ‘Team India’ sentiment. “At Davos, we could see one India, and I think it’s a great example of cooperative and competitive federalism whereby we are talking in one voice, but at the same time we are competing for business, we are competing for showcasing the abilities of our states, and I think that is what is contemplated in the cooperative and competitive federalism”, he voiced at the press conference.

“For us, it’s a forum to network, to understand the emerging technologies, to take the emerging technologies back home, to interact with different businesses, to tell them that we want to welcome them to our states and our country, and I think we could do it successfully here”, Fadnavis, who recently got the mandate from the people of Maharashtra said.

At a time when India aims to become a $5 trillion economy, Fadnavis believes it is very important that all states grow together. “There was a time when 3 or 4 states only used to grow. They used to get the share of growth, but now is a time when more states are competing and they are showcasing their strengths and they are attracting the investment, and I think together if we grow, India is going to grow”, Fadnavis complemented his argument.

Besides portraying a united ‘Team India’ at Davos, Fadnavis said leaders from different states also got the opportunity to share the best practices with each other. For all present during the press conference, India comes first and later the healthy competition within the states.

P Rajeev, Minister for Law, Industries and Coir, Kerala, representing his state, said he was in Davos to showcase the potential state of Kerala. The Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader thanked the central government for recognising Kerala for having simplified the process following the direction of the Union government.

T R B Rajaa, the Tamil Nadu minister from DMK, also affirmed that he believed in the idea of inclusive ‘Team India’ at Davos. Taking the thread from the previous speaker, he said, “I don’t differ from you, but I think we should not be surprised at what we have achieved here as a nation. The world needs India though. And I think we are in a position to leverage that”.

“When you bat as one, the kind of successes that you can get from this world it’s amazing What I see from success here outcomes every, every state has its own, views on MoUs and how to sign, when to sign, all that, and, and the kind of interest we’ve gotten, the kind of interest Maharashtra is getting, the kind of interest Telangana, Andhra, all the states that are here are getting”, the Tamil Naidu Minister added.

He also suggested that it was time for India to dictate policy for the world, given its stature in the world economy and its size. “We should start leveraging (India’s) position and start writing policy for the world, or at least we should have a say in what policy gets written for the world”, T R B Rajaa said.

Out of nowhere, he also floated an idea on why can’t India have a Davos like event in India. He specifically took the name of Jammu. “Why not? If India calls, the world will come today. If India calls, the world will come”, the Tamil Nadu minister backed his idea of hosting the economic summit in India.

Union Minister Jayant Chaudhary, when asked to share his Davos experience, said, “It has been a tremendous show of spirit and unity representing all the best strengths and talent and skill”. Rammohan Naidu, Union Minister minister at the Centre and from Chandrababu Naidu’s party TDP, also painted the picture of a diverse but cohesive India.

“This is the beauty of India is the unity and diversity and no better picture than the people here can showcase that at Davos. So this is the strength that we have. We have been able to showcase it at Davos, and I feel that this is the strength that is going to continue into the future in the coming days, and we are going to take it back to India just like how the discussions that are happening here, we’re going to continue that”, the young minister said at the press conference.

Chirag Paswan, another Union minister and an alliance partner in the NDA government, was in Davos for the first time. “The kind of reception that we have seen and I think a lot of credit and the only credit goes to my prime minister the way he has in the past one decade, the way India in front of all the other developed countries, the way it has emerged as one of the fastest growing economies, as one of the fastest developing countries has given us that respect,” Chirag Paswan of LJP party said.

The Annual Meeting 2025 of The World Economic Forum is taking place at Davos-Klosters from 20th to 24th January 2025. India Pavilion at the 55th World Economic Forum (WEF) annual conference 2025 in Davos, Switzerland, features eight states, each seeking investment opportunities from executives of companies worldwide.

Kerala, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, and West Bengal are the states which have established their presence at WEF, 2025. Davos 2025 convenes under ‘Collaboration for the Intelligent Age. (ANI)