Modi urges Indians to avoid foreign travel, gold purchases

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has once again urged Indians to avoid non-essential foreign travel, overseas destination weddings and unnecessary gold purchases, stressing the need to conserve foreign exchange as the country faces global economic uncertainties, according to a report by Scroll.

Modi made the appeal on Tuesday in a video message posted from Kyrgyzstan, where he is attending the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit. He also advised Indians against holding destination weddings in foreign countries, reiterating a call for greater austerity that he had made in May amid economic pressures arising from the war in West Asia.

The prime minister had earlier asked citizens to avoid unnecessary overseas travel and gold purchases for a year, arguing that reducing foreign exchange outflows was important for the economy.

His latest appeal came as he celebrated India's 7.8% GDP growth in the April-June quarter. The growth rate exceeded the Reserve Bank of India’s earlier forecast of 7%. Modi attributed the performance to India’s resilience despite global uncertainty, conflicts, and supply chain disruptions, and called on the country to maintain the momentum.

However, the Congress has challenged the government’s upbeat assessment of the economy. Party leader Jairam Ramesh argued that the GDP figures fail to capture weak private investment sentiment among both Indian and foreign investors and accused the government of celebrating the numbers prematurely.

Congress MP Pawan Khera also questioned whether GDP growth alone reflected the economic reality faced by citizens. He pointed to widespread unemployment, examination paper leaks and problems in the education system, arguing that national output figures do not adequately measure jobs, wages or opportunities.

The contrasting claims have intensified the political debate over whether India’s strong headline GDP growth is translating into broader economic gains for ordinary citizens.