India outlook: Reforms put wind in its sails amid global headwinds; PMO’s Shaktikanta Das maps the road ahead

India is at the cusp of a historic economic journey, with government policies and reforms giving the country “wind in its sails” even as global trade uncertainties intensify, Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister Shaktikanta Das said on Friday.

Delivering the inaugural Bibek Debroy Memorial Lecture, Das said India has emerged stronger from successive global shocks and is now positioned to pursue sustained growth despite a fragmented global economic order, PTI reported.




Atmanirbharta as resilience, not isolation

“At a time when the consensus that powered globalisation in past decades has frayed and multilateral cooperation has become harder to achieve, India has embraced Atmanirbharta as the overarching principle of our policies,” Das said.

Clarifying the approach, he added: “Atmanirbharta is not being isolationist, but a strategy to build core competence and resilience. Economic Atmanirbharta means developing the capacity to produce critical goods and technologies at home and reducing over-reliance on foreign sources.”

A self-reliant economy, backed by strong domestic capabilities and an autonomous foreign policy, provides India greater strength to sustain growth and navigate external challenges, he said. “Together, they ensure that India’s rise is resilient, sustainable and beneficial to us and to the world.”

From global shocks to ‘wind in our sails’

Das said India has successfully emerged from what appeared to be “perfect storms” triggered by multiple global shocks since the COVID-19 outbreak in 2020.

“And now with the policies that the country has adopted, the wind is in our sails. We are indeed on our path to Viksit Bharat,” he said.

India, he noted, stands at an inflection point where shifting geopolitical alignments and trade policies are reshaping the global economic landscape.

“India stands today at the cusp of a historic journey — from being an incredible India to a credible India. There will be headwinds and challenges emanating from known and unknown sources,” Das said.

Fragmenting world, India’s strategic response

Das flagged the strain on global institutions and multilateral frameworks, saying traditional multilateralism is increasingly being sidelined by geopolitical rivalries, protectionism and fragmentation.

“Key international institutions are struggling to deliver on their mandates… Trade and supply chains, once seen as neutral conduits of globalisation, are increasingly being utilised as instrumentalities of disruption and dominance,” he said.

Reshoring, friend-shoring and restricted technology flows are fragmenting global networks, reflecting broader geo-economic fragmentation, Das added.

Against this backdrop, India’s approach is pragmatic. “India stands for a cooperative and rules-based global system; but at the same time, we are proactively forging partnerships and strategies to secure our national interest in a world where power is more diffused,” he said.

“We, of course, acknowledge that the multilateral system must be revitalised, even as we adapt to new alignments,” Das added.