Highlighting the rising international confidence in India’s economic reforms and accelerating investment momentum, Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said it was time for India to host a Davos-style global economic summit of its own. Speaking on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum, Vaishnaw proposed the idea of an “Autumn Davos” in India, aimed at drawing the world’s leading business leaders, investors and policymakers to the country.
Vaishnaw said the proposal reflected a deeper global recognition of India’s growing economic stature and reform-driven growth. He argued that India’s scale, policy direction and market potential now justify hosting a high-profile international forum similar to Davos. According to him, such an event would symbolise how the world increasingly views India as a central driver of global growth rather than a peripheral emerging market.
At present, India does not host a single, unified annual global business summit comparable to Davos. Instead, it relies on sector-specific platforms such as the Bharat Startup Summit and the India Digital Summit, alongside investment conclaves organised by individual states. Events like the Bengal Global Business Summit, Vibrant Gujarat Summit and the Uttar Pradesh Investors Summit have helped attract capital at the regional level, but Vaishnaw suggested a national-level global forum could consolidate these efforts and amplify India’s global economic voice.
The minister, who oversees portfolios such as Information Technology and Railways, underlined that India is currently the fastest-growing major economy in the world, with inflation largely under control and macroeconomic fundamentals remaining strong. He said global investors increasingly understand and appreciate the structural reforms initiated under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, particularly landmark changes such as the Goods and Services Tax and the gradual opening up of sensitive sectors like nuclear energy.
Vaishnaw noted that investor sentiment toward India has improved significantly, driven by policy stability, infrastructure expansion and sustained reform momentum. He pointed out that India overtook Japan in 2025 to become the world’s fourth-largest economy, ranking behind only the United States, China and Germany. This shift, he said, reinforced the case for India hosting a major global economic forum.
He also referred to recent assessments by the International Monetary Fund, which revised India’s GDP growth forecast for 2025–26 upward to 7.3 per cent from an earlier estimate of 6.6 per cent. Vaishnaw said the revision reflected international confidence in India’s economic trajectory and the strength of domestic demand and investment.
The minister’s comments come at a time when India is actively seeking to diversify global supply chains and attract fresh investment amid disruptions caused by shifting trade policies and geopolitical uncertainty, including the global trade churn triggered under US President Donald Trump. He said a global summit hosted in India could further reinforce the country’s position as a preferred investment destination in a rapidly changing world economy.
On the subject of artificial intelligence, Vaishnaw strongly rejected international assessments that place India in a “second tier” of AI capability. Addressing IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva during the summit, he argued that India belongs firmly in the top tier of AI nations.
He explained that AI development spans five critical layers — applications, models, chips, infrastructure and energy — and said India is actively working across all of them. According to Vaishnaw, India has made particularly strong progress at the application level and is well positioned to become one of the world’s largest providers of AI-driven services, further strengthening its claim as a global technology and innovation hub.
