BENGALURU: The inaugural event of Invest Karnataka 2025 turned into a showcase of cooperative federalism, with defence minister Rajnath Singh stressing the need for unity in governance to drive economic progress.
Calling Karnataka the “gateway to India’s vast and diverse resources”, Singh said states and Centre must work together, beyond political differences, for the country’s development.
“I would like to remind people of the profound words of our former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who saidgovts will come and go, political parties will be formed and divided, but the nation must always thrive,” Singh said in his opening remarks at the global investors’ meet.
He expressed confidence that Bengaluru will spearhead the development of a homegrown AI foundational model. He hailed the event as an example of the country’s federal structure at work. “Despite being from opposing parties with different ideologies, chief minister Siddaramaiah invited me to inaugurate the event, and I accepted. This is how a democracy should function,” he said.
The Union minister described India as a model of cooperative federalism, citing GST as an example of how states and the Centre have worked together for economic reform. Encouraging investors to believe in India’s economic rise, Singh urged them to “go long” on Karnataka and the country. When you anticipate that the value of an asset is going to decline, you choose to ‘go short’. Conversely, when you see strong potential for growth and believe that an asset’s value will rise, you ‘go long’. Those who went short on India and its people’s future saw their success fade. But those who went long in India have witnessed sustained growth,” he said.
Meanwhile, Congress said party netas Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi were unable to attend the event due to the budget session of Parliament. The clarification came amid reports Congress was miffed at lack of prominence to the two netas at the summit. Congress also released a letter by Kharge to Congress government extending his wishes for the event’s success while expressing his inability to attend due to Budget session.