Israel’s Finance Minister, Bezalel Smotric, hailed India’s economic prowess and called the Indian economy “fascinating”. Praising the reforms brought under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he said that the results speak for themselves when it comes to India’s economic picture.

He made the remarks in an exclusive interview to ANI when asked about how he views the Indian economy, in the backdrop of remarks made by US President Donald Trump, who had called India a dead economy.

To this, Finance Minister Smotrich said, “The Indian economy is fascinating. The reforms that Prime Minister Modi is facilitating for free markets, competition…- you can’t argue with the results. With a 6 per cent growth rate per year, I think India’s growth will accelerate. I am sure you’re on the right path…”

The US President, on July 31, had written on Truth Social, “I don’t care what India does with Russia. They can take their dead economies down together, for all I care. We have done very little business with India, their Tariffs are too high, among the highest in the World. Likewise, Russia and the USA do almost no business together…”

The positive remarks by Israel’s Finance Minister came on August 29, with the official data showing that India’s real GDP is estimated to grow by 7.8 per cent in the April-June quarter of the financial year 2025-26 over the growth rate of 6.5 per cent in the same quarter of the previous fiscal.

The National Statistics Office (NSO), Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI), has released the Quarterly Estimates of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for the April-June Quarter of the financial year 2025-26.

Currently the world’s fourth-largest economy, India is on track to become the third-largest by 2030 with a projected USD 7.3 trillion GDP. This momentum is powered by decisive governance, visionary reforms, and active global engagement, officials said.