Narendra Modi

Prime Minister — India

Country momentum +8 — Quarterly momentum: the Bureau's read on the country's trajectory over the last quarter, from −10 (deteriorating fast) to +10 (accelerating).

• Leads the world's most populous state and its fastest-growing major economy.
• 7.8% growth in Q1 FY26; UPI runs 49% of the world's real-time payments — state digital capacity at scale.
• Held the BRICS chair and hosted Delhi; the Quad with Washington, oil from Moscow — multi-alignment perfected.
• The debit column: Kashmir's statehood unrestored, Muslim minorities' fears, press freedom sliding.