PM Modi turns 75: From RSS days to moments with his mother— rare photos

Prime Minister Narendra Modi turned 75, receiving an outpouring of wishes from across the world. His milestone birthday was also marked by the launch of several new welfare programmes and schemes such as ‘Sewa Pakhwada.’ Here’s a look at rare snapshots chronicling key moments from the PM's life and career. (Image credits: X @modiarchive)

PM Modi with CP Radhakrishnan, now the 15th Vice President of India, in Coimbatore on 1st August 2003. Over two decades later, in 2025, Radhakrishnan was nominated by PM Modi as the NDA’s candidate for the vice-presidential elections. (Image credits: X @modiarchive)

A young PM Modi shares a light moment with an RSS colleague. At just 17, soon after the 1971 India–Pakistan war, Modi left home to join the RSS. He went on to serve as a pracharak and later a BJP organiser, long before emerging as a mass leader. (Image credits: X @modiarchive)

PM Narendra Modi bonding with a koala bear. (Image credits: X @modiarchive)

PM Narendra Modi with his mother, Hiraben Modi. She passed away in December 2022 at the age of 99.(Image credits: X @modiarchive)

During his 1998 visit to Mauritius, PM Modi offered prayers at the sacred Ganga Talao, witnessing how Hindu traditions continue to thrive beyond India. He also met with then-President Cassam Uteem and PM Navinchandra Ramgoolam. Seventeen years later, in 2015, PM Modi returned to Ganga Talao, once again offering flowers to Ganga. (Image credits: X @modiarchive)

In April 2007, as CM of Gujarat, Modi visited Japan, touring Tokyo, Osaka, Hiroshima, and Kobe over six days. During the trip, he engaged with major corporate giants—including Mitsubishi, Mitsui, Sumitomo, Suzuki, Toshiba, Nippon Steel—and secured MoUs between JETRO and Gujarat’s industries department. (Image credits: X @modiarchive)

In 1993, while returning from the US, PM Modi made an impromptu stop in the United Kingdom. He visited community hubs such as Sunrise Radio and the Gujarati newspaper Naya Padkar. (Image credits: X @modiarchive)

In 2007, as CM of Gujarat, Narendra Modi honored Sunita Williams for her record-breaking 195-day mission aboard the International Space Station (December 9, 2006 – June 22, 2007). (Image credits: X @modiarchive)

PM Narendra Modi with RSS chief Balasaheb Deoras during the Morbi dam crisis in 1979. (Image credits: X @modiarchive)

Suswagatam’—a single word text from then PM Modi to Ratan Tata marked the beginning of a deep bond. PM Modi mourned the passing of Ratan Tata, the doyen of Indian industry, who died at the age of 86, calling him a visionary business leader and a compassionate soul. (Image credits: X @modiarchive)