Global headwinds due to economic selfishness

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has highlighted India’s robust GDP growth in the April-June quarter despite the challenges in the global market arising due to ‘economic selfishness’. The Prime Minister’s remark comes in the backdrop of the tariff turmoil triggered by US President Donald Trump's policy, which has led to heightened economic uncertainty in global markets.

Addressing the SEMICON 2025 event here, PM Modi said: “On the one hand, many of the world’s economies are facing uncertainty and challenges related to economic selfishness. Yet, in this environment, Bharat has achieved a remarkable growth rate of 7.8 per cent," he said.

The Prime Minister’s oblique reference to Trump’s tariff policy also comes a day after the joint declaration of the heads of member countries of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) which opposed the “unilateral coercive measures, including those of an economic nature, that contravene the UN Charter and other norms of international law, the rules and principles of the World Trade Organisation, damaging the interests of international security, including its food and energy components, negatively affecting the global economy, undermining fair competition, hindering international cooperation and the achievement of the UN Sustainable Development Goals,” the joint declaration states.

The SCO summit, attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin, adopted a statement on support for the multilateral trading system.