Survival Modi: Indian PM’s fortunes revive
Economist Podcasts
The Economist
4.3 • 5K Ratings
🗓️ 2 February 2026
⏱️ 21 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
After Narendra Modi’s setback in the 2024 Indian elections, many thought his star was falling. Our correspondent explains the surprising resurgence of popular support. Why pushing your child to specialise may not be the best way to nurture their genius. And what the departure of pandas from Japan says about the country’s relationship with China.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | The Economist |
| 0:02.0 | Hello and welcome to the intelligence from The Economist. |
| 0:13.0 | I'm Rosie Bloor |
| 0:15.0 | and I'm Jason Palmer. |
| 0:17.0 | Every weekday we provide a fresh perspective on the events shaping your world. |
| 0:30.6 | How to nurture your child's genius appears to be a preoccupation of at least some parents. Until now, the assumption was that, after you push them out at birth, you just keep pushing. |
| 0:36.6 | A new study begs to differ. |
| 0:40.0 | And when the last two pandas on loan from China left Japan, |
| 0:44.5 | there was a great outpouring of emotion, pandemonium, you might call it. |
| 0:49.0 | But this is the arithmetic of panda diplomacy. |
| 0:51.9 | Ever fewer as Sino-Japanese relations have become more tense. |
| 0:57.0 | First up, though... |
| 1:03.0 | Friends, |
| 1:09.0 | today, India,...auburned, when the EU and India recently announced a long-awaited free trade deal, India's Prime Minister |
| 1:18.6 | Narendra Modi called it his country's largest ever. The European Commission's President |
| 1:24.6 | Ursula von der Leyen reached Trumpian levels of bombast. |
| 1:28.2 | We did it. We delivered the mother of all deals. We're creating a market of two billion people. |
| 1:38.1 | This was a big win for Mr Modi and one that reflects just how much he's back at the top of Indian politics. |
| 1:45.9 | Narendra Modi took office in the era of Barack Obama, David Cameron and Angela Merkel, |
| 1:52.1 | and now he's expected to run again in the next Indian national election in 2009, age 78, |
| 1:59.3 | and he's actually got his eye on being the longest serving Indian prime |
| 2:03.2 | minister of all time. |
... |
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