{"id":127405,"date":"2026-10-04T10:40:33","date_gmt":"2026-10-04T05:10:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/?p=127405"},"modified":"2026-10-04T12:03:28","modified_gmt":"2026-10-04T06:33:28","slug":"economic-resilience","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/economic-resilience\/","title":{"rendered":"Economic Resilience: India&#8217;s Strategy Against Weaponised Tariffs"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2><b>Economic Resilience Latest News<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">P K Mishra, Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister, said that tariffs, export controls and other trade restrictions are increasingly used <\/span><b>not just for commercial objectives<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> but for strategic purposes \u2014 and that these &#8220;instruments of economic policy are sometimes even <\/span><b>weaponised<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">He was speaking at a session titled &#8216;A World Priced for Risk&#8217; at the 5th Kautilya Economic Conclave.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">He framed India&#8217;s goal in a memorable formulation: the future will belong to those <\/span><b>who can be steady without being closed<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, careful without being fearful, and ambitious without being na\u00efve.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>Risk vs Uncertainty: The New Global Condition<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Secretary drew a key distinction: the world today faces <\/span><b>not merely risk, but uncertainty<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u2014 and this decade has sharpened that distinction.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Examples he cited:<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A pandemic disrupting production and mobility worldwide.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Wars disrupting energy and food markets.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Shipping routes and geographical chokepoints becoming sources of economic vulnerability.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Export restrictions, sanctions and tariffs turning into instruments of economic policy \u2014 sometimes weaponised outright.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Critical minerals, technologies, and financial infrastructure acquiring new strategic significance.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>Energy: From &#8220;What&#8217;s the Price?&#8221; to &#8220;Will It Arrive?&#8221;<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">He highlighted a fundamental shift in how energy-importing economies must think.<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For decades, the principal question for energy importers was simply the price of energy.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Today, a second question has emerged: will the energy be available, or can it even reach us?<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">He noted that a disruption in a major shipping route can affect crude oil prices thousands of kilometres away \u2014 meaning <\/span><b>geography has become an economic variable<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> in itself.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>Rethinking Globalisation&#8217;s Core Logic<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The speaker reflected on how the traditional logic of globalisation is being supplemented, not replaced.<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The old logic: produce where costs are lowest, move goods efficiently across borders.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This logic &#8220;remains relevant and even powerful,&#8221; he stressed.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But recent experience \u2014 the pandemic, geopolitical conflict, and other disruptions \u2014 has added a new consideration: the cost of interruption.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A supply chain efficient in normal times can become fragile if a single-node supplier or geography becomes unavailable.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>Critical Minerals: A New Concentration Risk<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Mishra pointed to a parallel pattern in critical minerals essential to the clean energy transition.<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Lithium, cobalt, rare earths and other minerals are essential for batteries, electronics, renewable energy, and advanced manufacturing.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Their extraction, processing, and refining are highly <\/span><b>geographically concentrated<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For nearly all of them, a single country does most of the refining.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">His key warning: &#8220;the clean energy future, which was meant to free us from oil dependence, risks creating new ones.&#8221;\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In other words, moving away from oil dependency may simply replace it with mineral-refining dependency on a different single country.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>The Policy Question Going Forward<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Mishra framed the central challenge for policymakers precisely:<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The question before policymakers is therefore not whether globalisation has ended. It has not.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The question is <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">how we preserve the gains from openness, while making economies less vulnerable to concentrated and unpredicted shocks<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This reframes the debate \u2014 <\/span><b><i>not openness versus protectionism, but openness with resilience against concentration risk<\/i><\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>India&#8217;s Response to Supply Chain Shocks<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Discussing disruptions around the Strait of Hormuz, Mishra noted India is a major energy importer, vulnerable to prolonged disruption of important maritime routes.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">India&#8217;s response has combined several layers of protection:<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Maintaining substantial stocks.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Increasing domestic production.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ensuring alternative supply routes and suppliers are available.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Concrete Evidence of Diversification<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: The number of countries from which India imports crude oil has increased from <\/span><b>27 to 43<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u2014 a significant expansion.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>Diversifying Trade Relationships<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Mishra emphasised that an open economy will always depend on other economies \u2014 but the goal is avoiding excessive concentration, not eliminating dependence altogether.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">India&#8217;s expanding trade agreement network now includes: UAE; Australia; AIFTA (ASEAN\u2013India Free Trade Area); United Kingdom; Oman; New Zealand; European Union.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">He also flagged a less visible form of resilience: <\/span><b>macroeconomic resilience<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u2014 strength in the broader fundamentals of the economy, beyond trade diversification alone.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>Conclusion<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">P K Mishra&#8217;s remarks capture a broader shift: trade tools once reserved for commerce are now instruments of geopolitical leverage, and geography itself has re-entered economic calculus.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">India&#8217;s answer isn&#8217;t <\/span><b>retreat from globalisation but deliberate diversification<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u2014 more oil suppliers, more trade agreements, deeper domestic buffers.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Whether this strategy holds will depend on how well India converts diversification into genuine resilience, not just a longer list of partners.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Source:<\/b> <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/indianexpress.com\/article\/india\/tariffs-sanctions-policy-pk-mishra-10905659\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">IE<\/a> | <a href=\"http:\/\/m.economictimes.com\/news\/economy\/policy\/sanctions-tariffs-turn-into-policy-instruments-sometimes-weaponised-p-k-mishra\/articleshow\/134654818.cms\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">ET<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Economic resilience is vital as tariffs, export controls and sanctions prompt India to diversify suppliers, trade partners and supply chains.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":127441,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[10655,60,22,59],"class_list":["post-127405","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-upsc-mains-current-affairs","tag-economic-resilience","tag-mains-articles","tag-upsc-current-affairs","tag-upsc-mains-current-affairs","no-featured-image-padding"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/127405","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=127405"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/127405\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":127442,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/127405\/revisions\/127442"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/127441"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=127405"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=127405"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=127405"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}