While speaking at the 4th Annual Atal Bihari Vajpayee Lecture in New Delhi, Anand Mahindra talked about what factors can help India create a global influence or Antarrashtriya Samman. He further said that business and commerce can make a vital contribution towards our aspiration of earning international respect.

Taking a “practical approach” to how India can turn into a country with an even stronger global influence, Anand Mahindra sought inspiration from the US, which has been regarded as the benchmark for strong influence for decades.

Mahindra said, “Let me look at the country which, for better or for worse, is regarded as the most powerful and influential nation in the world today—the United States of America.”

He said that there are three prongs with which the US has gained global influence, which are – world-leading military might; unparalleled soft power and influence across the world; and a dominant role in the world economy which embraces the power of American businesses.

Mahindra further said that by using the same three-pronged or “Trishul” approach, India can too gain Antarrashtriya Samman. “From his actions, it’s clear that Prime Minister Modi has understood the importance of all three prongs and is working feverishly on all fronts,” he said.

Anand Mahindra’s three-pronged model for India

Highlighting the importance of each prong in the “trishul” model of creating global influence, Anand Mahindra said how the Indian military can further advance.

He said, “Today there is a huge opportunity for an Indian version of a military-industrial partnership to emerge. In fact, companies like Tata Advanced Systems and Mahindra Defence are already leveraging these opportunities.”

Moving on to the soft power prong, Mahindra said, “Just look at the K-wave that is sweeping the world. The small nation of South Korea has had an outsized impact on the world. Maybe India needs to change gears to create its own I-wave. The superheroes of our epics and folk tales are more than a match for the Marvel Universe.”

“We have top class technical education institutions and under PM Modi the proliferation of new IITs, IIMs and AIMSs has been mind-boggling; but if innovation is to flourish, we need the private sector to chip in and double or even triple that number,” he added.

Speaking about the business prong, Mahindra said, “In order to gain global influence, dominant Indian corporations must find a seat at the high table. In 2023, I was fortunate to be invited to a meeting at the White House called the Tech Handshake, presided over by PM Modi and President Biden.”

“Who were the people that President Biden seated, quite literally, at the ‘high table’: It was Tim Cook, Sunder Pichai, Satya Nadella, Sam Altman. The projection of economic power was unmistakable. And what power was he projecting? It was not just the power of scale, but also the power of innovation, and disruption. Today, both are symbols of economic might.”