Prime Minister Narendra Modi

NEW DELHI: PM Narendra Modi Saturday said India was witnessing a “psychological renaissance” as it shook off the slavery mindset, which was reflected in its slow pace of development being termed as Hindu rate of growth, and asserted that the country was now the growth-driver of the global economy.The PM said India was being showered with plaudits like “global powerhouse” or “global growth engine” when it was the fastest growing major economy. But when it gr-ew at a rate between 2% and 3%, the term “Hindu rate of growth” was coined to describe its slow pace, he said.“Do you think the act of linking a country’s economic growth to the faith of its people and their identity was without any reason? No, it was reflective of the mindset of slavery,” he said at the HT Leadership Summit, adding no one was using the term when India clocked a high rate of gro-wth. GDP grew at a robust 8.2% in the second quarter.The so-called intellectuals saw no communalism in a phrase like “Hindu rate of growth” that made Hindu civilisation and culture synonymous with poverty and unproductivity, he said.The British mocked Indian tradition to strip people of self-confidence, Modi said, adding that his govt was working to restore the country’s prominence in a host of sectors. Modi said India was now in a different league at a time when the world was talking of a slowdown. India was scripting the chapter of growth and has become a pillar of trust amid “crisis of trust” in the world, he added. “India’s journey today is not merely about development. It is also about a change of mindset. It is also a journey of psychological renaissance,” the PM said.