“The Geopolitical Storm Is Closer Than Bharat Thinks, It Must Prepare To Hit Back At Economic Coercion”, Swarajya, 01 Oct 2026.
“Storm clouds are gathering over the Indian political economy, both internally and externally. The external clouds are more obvious, with rising energy prices due to two unending wars and the US effort to browbeat India over buying Russian oil looming large, to name just two. But internally too we could see a policy/reform slowdown as one more election cycle is upon us, this time including the all-important state of Uttar Pradesh.
The fierce opposition to Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar will also heat things up politically. This means that any tough decision that will impact voter sentiment may be avoided, and we can expect one more round of unaffordable freebies in the coming months. While both the Centre and the states are trying hard to deregulate the economy in order to provide a fresh burst of entrepreneurial energy, this is not going to deliver an immediate bang for the buck.
The external shocks are difficult to ignore and will need more than just short-term fiscal and supply-side management. This was done efficiently when the US-Israel-Iran war broke out towards the end of February, and the fuel and cooking gas shortages were quickly handled through fiscal and supply-side measures. But if the war widens, and even Saudi Arabia is caught in its vortex, India’s problems in sourcing crude will accelerate, especially since the US may now impose higher tariffs using the excuse that India is buying a lot of Russian oil………..”
Read the full article at Swarajya.
