VARANASI, Sept. 18 -- Defence minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday said India's economy was among the "Fragile Five" when Narendra Modi assumed office as prime minister in 2014 but was now among the "Fabulous Five" economies of the world. If the West Asia crisis had not arisen, India would have been among the world's three fabulous economies by now, Singh said.

The defence minister was speaking at the launch of the Seva Sankalp Abhiyan in Varanasi to mark Modi's birthday and his 25 years in public life.

Rajnath Singh highlighted growth in defence production, saying it had "increased from around Rs.40,000 crore before 2014 to more than Rs.1.8 lakh crore, while defence exports had risen from around Rs.600 crore to more than Rs.40,000 crore"...