Not since Jawaharlal Nehru went about the world marketing his young country’s leadership in the 1950s, has India seen anything like a salesman in its highest office. Now, prime minister Narendra Modi has set himself that job—and won the title of India’s salesman-in-chief.
Though new for India, it has become the job description for modern heads of state, who from Barack Obama to Xi Jinping, travel abroad to sell their country’s capabilities and bring home jobs, trade and investment.