Narendra Modi grew up in simple circumstances in the town of Vadnagar in the state of Gujarat. As a young man, he helped his father sell tea at the local railway station, but was also drawn into a Hindu nationalist movement at an early age.
Twelve years ago, it led him all the way to the prime minister's post.
During his time in power, India has overtaken China as the world's most populous country, with an economy that is one of the world's fastest growing.
At the same time, Narendra Modi has also been more active in foreign policy than some of his predecessors, notes Henrik Chetan Aspengren, head of the Asia Program at the Swedish Institute of International Affairs.
This has been particularly noticeable in recent years. Last fall, Modi met with both Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
“In the same boat”
At the same time, India is trying to stay on good terms with China, the US - and Europe.
The starting point is to put Indian interests first. India's development and security needs guide foreign policy, says Henrik Chetan Aspengren.
India does not want to be forced into a bloc and thus limit its opportunities for continued growth.
The geopolitical balance is also a large part of the reason for Modi's ongoing mini-tour, where he will visit the United Arab Emirates, the Netherlands, Sweden, Norway and Italy in six days.
India and the EU are in a bit of the same boat. We both experience economic pressure from China, which also represents an authoritarian model. But we also experience an increasingly complicated relationship with the US under Donald Trump.
Criticism at home
While in foreign policy he is trying to steer India between the other great powers, Narendra Modi and his party, the Hindu nationalist BJP, have received sharp criticism at home for, among other things, their rhetoric against Muslims and other minorities.
According to Henrik Chetan Aspengren, the 75-year-old has tried to tone it down in recent years.
It is often not he himself who expresses these things, but others in his party who use slightly more hard-line language. But he has been accused of being slow to respond.
He is shaped by the Hindu nationalist movement. But in recent years he has also tried to step into a more father-of-the-nation role, instead of being a divisive figure.
Facts: Narendra Modi
Born in September 1950 in the state of Gujarat.
In his youth, he sold tea with his father.
At the age of 18, he was married off to 17-year-old Jashodaben. But just a month later, he left his wife and hometown.
He has never started a family, and only admitted in the 2010s, after being legally forced to do so, that he was married.
As a young man, he joined the Hindu nationalist movement RSS, which is closely connected to the BJP ("Indian People's Party").
He was Chief Minister of the state of Gujarat from 2001 to 2014. He was criticized for doing too little to stop a massacre of Muslims in 2002, but was ultimately acquitted by the Supreme Court.
He has been Prime Minister since May 2014.
Sources: NE.se, Narendramodi.in and others.
