Best of BS Opinion: India's test in trade, democracy, and diplomacy

Here are the best of Business Standard's opinion pieces for today

Do you remember that schooldays scene during exams, where a student would sneak in a slip of paper, their eyes filled with a nervous look when the invigilator would pass them. The desperate student would scribble answers from the hidden chit, convinced that the shortcut will guarantee good scores. In that moment, it feels like the perfect hack, the shortcut that is a replacement for hours of study. But when the marks would be declared, the truth landed heavy. The cheat-sheet covered the wrong chapters, the answers were half-baked, and the final score was no better than if the test had been faced honestly. That is the bitter irony of shortcuts, they promise rescue but often deepen the fall. Let’s dive in. 

The US’ decision to slap tariffs of up to 50 per cent on Indian exports is one such blow. Nearly two-thirds of India’s $86.5 billion trade basket with the US will be hit, threatening a $41 billion surplus. Our first editorial cautions that clinging to Russian oil or avoiding reforms will not work anymore. Diversifying markets, reworking trade deals, and pushing competitiveness are the only real answers. Like the exam cheat-sheet, short-term fixes won’t help India escape Trump-era tariff politics. 

Politics, too, is seeking its own quick fixes. The Constitution 130th Amendment Bill, which seeks automatic removal of ministers jailed for 30 days, seems to champion morality but ends up distorting democracy. Leaders usually resign on their own when under scrutiny. As our second editorial points out, weaponising custody risks undermining due process in a system already prone to misuse. Instead of such blunt-force rules, judicial reform is the real work that needs doing. 

Meanwhile, Amita Batra writes that India must abandon rigid localisation norms under the PLI scheme and reduce tariffs on inputs if it wants to join global value chains. Clinging to protectionist policies, she argues, only raises costs and deters investment. What’s needed is a bold embrace of trade pacts, from the EU to CPTPP, and preparing for the inevitability of carbon border taxes. Pretending we can ace the global trade test without opening up is just another version of failing despite the shortcut. 

And on the economic front, Rajesh Kumar highlights the RBI’s review of inflation targeting. The framework has delivered stability since 2016, and tinkering with targets or ranges in the hope of instant growth could backfire. Sticking to tested discipline, rather than gaming the formula, is what sustains credibility. 

And in the world of ideas, Dammu Ravi reviews Amitav Acharya’s From Southeast Asia to Indo-Pacific: Culture, Identity, and the Return to Geopolitics, a study of how Southeast Asia carved out a space for itself in global politics. Far from being a passive bridge between India and China, the region forged its own identity by borrowing, adapting, and trading its way into an Asean-led framework that prizes consensus and sovereignty. For India, the lesson is clear: Act East must mean deeper integration, not token gestures. 

Stay tuned!