Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been ranked among the 10 most powerful people in the world by Forbes in a list that has been topped by Russian President Vladimir Putin for a fourth straight year and had US President-elect Donald Trump in the second place.
PM Modi ranks ninth on the Forbes list of 74 of the World’s Most Powerful People. Forbes said India’s populist Prime Minister remains hugely popular in his country of 1.3 billion people.
“PM Modi has raised his profile as a global leader in recent years during official visits with Barack Obama and Xi Jinping. He has also emerged as a key figure in the international effort to tackle climate change, as planetary warming will deeply affect millions of his country’s rural and most vulnerable citizens,” Forbes said.
It also took note of the unexpected decision made by PM Modi last month to demonetise India’s two high-value currency notes in a bid to reduce money laundering and corruption, creating a nationwide frenzy to quickly swap out the bills.
The list has been topped by Putin, who retains the title of the world’s most powerful person for four years running. US President Obama comes in on the 48th spot.
“There are nearly 7.4 billion humans on planet Earth, but these 74 men and women make the world turn. Forbes’ annual ranking of the World’s Most Powerful People identifies one person out of every 100 million whose actions mean the most,” it said.
Forbes said Russia’s 64-year-old president has exerted his country’s influence in nearly every corner of the globe; from the motherland to Syria to the US presidential elections, continuing to “get what he wants”.
On the second spot is 70-year-old Trump who will become the first billionaire president of the United States, after upsetting Hillary Clinton in a surprising election victory.
The list includes Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani on the 38th spot. Forbes said the 59-year-old oil and gas tycoon sparked a price war in India’s hyper-competitive telecom market with the launch of 4G phone service Jio at the annual shareholder meeting of his Reliance Industries in September.
