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India working on self-reliance, self-confidence, self-protection: Piyush Goyal
India's commerce minister outlines three principles for the new world order: self-reliance, self-confidence, and self-protection, emphasizing global partnerships.
India is working on three major principles in this new geopolitical and geo-economic world order, Union commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal on Tuesday said citing them as ‘aatmnirbharta’ (self-reliance), ‘aatmvishwas’ (self-confidence) and ‘aatmraksha’ (self- protection).
Speaking at the curtain raiser event for the 30th CII Partnership Summit in New Delhi, in presence of Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu, Goyal said “great partnerships” are built on technology, trust, trade, talent and tradition. His comments came at a time when the world is witnessing geopolitical turbulence like the Russia-Ukraine and the Israel-Hamas wars and tariff uncertainties triggered by the US.
In a reference to the summit, the minister underscored the importance of partnership between countries and said: “Ultimately, it is partnerships which will define growth, success, and a better future for all of mankind.” The 30th edition of the summit will be held from 14-15 November in Andhra Pradesh’s Visakhapatnam. The theme this year is “Technology, Trust, and Trade Navigating the New Geoeconomic Order”. The summit will see participation from over 30 countries such as trade ministers of Switzerland, Singapore and Qatar, including senior officials of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), a CII spokesperson said.
In reference to the new geopolitical and geoeconomic world order, Goyal said India is working on three major principles: “One is ‘Aatmnirbharta’, that’s self-reliance. We are building capabilities. We are building supply-chains. We are building value-chains, which can help us in difficult times, which can give us end-to-end assurance that we will not be subject to any weaponization of trade and will be always in a position to meet our international obligations.”
In this context, he spoke about India’s reform initiatives such as second-generation reforms in the Goods and Services Tax (GST 2.0) with massive tax rate reduction from September 22 to boost domestic consumption. “In fact, recently, we’ve seen some massive overhauling of the GST indirect tax framework in India, which will lead to a lot of simplification, lower tax burden on consumers, and give a huge boost to consumer spending and consumption-led growth to the Indian economy,” he said.
“Our second focus is on ‘Aatmvishwas’ that’s self-confidence,” he said. “Today, India works with the rest of the world from a position of strength. We work with confidence that when we engage with other countries in the world, we are confident that we will be an equal participant, equal stakeholder, and work as truly as partners with other countries,” he added.
Explaining the third one as ‘Aatmraksha’, he said it is about “protecting the Indian people and the interests of all of mankind”. He cited the G20 Summit hosted by India in 2023 to convey his idea behind self-protection. “You may be aware, many of you were participating in the G20 Summit which we hosted, the theme of the summit was ‘Vasudhav Kutumutam’, the whole world is our family. We talked about ‘one world, one future’, and therefore, I think Aatmraksha, protecting the interests of all of mankind will protect the interests of all Indians,” he said.
“With that spirit of Aatmnirbharta (self-reliance), Aatmvishwas (self-confidence), and Aatmraksha (protecting mankind), I think, the 30th summit, which will have seven sessions on trade, industry, sustainability, technology, growth, inclusivity—all of these will make for a very exciting two-day summit in Visakhapatnam, one of the most beautiful cities in the country,” he said.
Speaking at the event, Naidu emphasised Andhra Pradesh’s strategic role in hosting the Summit for the seventh time. “The Partnership Summit has been a powerful platform for state-level promotion, investment outreach, and global engagement,” he said.
Outlining the state’s ambitious infrastructure plans, the CM said, “On our 1,000km east coast, we aim to build a port every 50km. We’re expanding airports and developing world-class logistics. Andhra Pradesh has consistently ranked No. 1 in ease of doing business, and now, we’re accelerating the speed of doing business.”
He also highlighted the “Swarna Andhra @ 2047” vision, supported by 21 sector-specific policy documents spanning IT, food processing, clean energy, electronics manufacturing, and more. The vision is anchored in 10 guiding principles, including zero poverty, deep tech integration, water security, global logistics, and agri-tech empowerment.
Naidu further highlighted the state’s inclusive development model: “We’ve transitioned from a P3 (Public-Private Partnership) to a P4 (Public-Private-People Partnership) approach, integrating social responsibility into private sector engagement.”
