Resilience amid the storm: India's arrival as a global power in 2025

Calendar 2025 has been a period of profound global and domestic turbulence, defined by escalating geopolitical friction, increasing turn to protectionism, and the use of unilateral measures disrupting global trade and supply chains. For India, these external pressures were compounded by hostile trade policies in its major markets, and a state-sponsored terrorist attack from Pakistan. Yet, India’s economic growth and socio-economic development trajectory continued unabated. Through Operation Sindoor, India delivered a decisive response to cross-border provocation, signalling an uncompromising commitment to its sovereignty. Ultimately, 2025 will stand as a testament to India’s resilience against all odds. Let us understand why: 

Engine of global growth 

In a world fractured by uncertainty, India stands out for its policy consistency, paired with sustained ambition. Major institutions, including the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, Goldman Sachs, and Morgan Stanley, now view India as the primary engine of long-term global growth. Driven by robust domestic demand, massive infrastructure scaling, and a deep-seated digital revolution, India is projected to be the chief contributor to global gross domestic product (GDP) expansion over the next decade. 

While other major economies struggle with demographic headwinds, India’s "Goldilocks" combination of favourable policy and a youthful workforce cements its status as a vital investment hub. This status is substantiated by significant institutional upgrades: In August 2025, S&P Global raised India’s sovereign credit rating to BBB (from BBB-), rewarding the nation’s fiscal discipline. Furthermore, the Bank of America Asia Fund Manager Survey recently saw India displace Japan as the most preferred investment destination in Asia. 

Socioeconomic transformation and equity 

Beyond growth, India is fundamentally reshaping its socioeconomic fabric, eliminating extreme poverty, and empowering citizens through comprehensive welfare schemes. With a Gini Index of 25.5, India now leads all G20 nations in narrowing income inequality. According to the World Bank, 171 million Indians exited extreme poverty over the last decade, with rural extreme poverty plummeting from 18.4 per cent to just 2.8 per cent. 

At the heart of this progress lies a revolution in financial access. The Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana has driven bank account ownership to a near-universal 89 per cent. By integrating direct benefit transfers with this inclusion, India ensures macroeconomic success translates into tangible social equity. Simultaneously, social security coverage has surged from just 19 per cent in 2015 to 64.3 per cent in 2025, protecting nearly 940 million citizens. 

Ayushman Bharat (Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana), the world’s largest healthcare programme, now protects over 550 million citizens. A landmark 2025 achievement was the universal expansion of care to all senior citizens aged 70 and above through the “Vay Vandana” card, ensuring dignity for the elderly, regardless of income. 

A global powerhouse for talent and innovation 

India has also emerged as a global leader in digital talent and technological breakthroughs. According to the QS World Future Skills Index, India ranks second globally (behind the US) in digital skills, surpassing advanced economies like Canada and Germany. This surge is mirrored in higher education, where the representation of Indian universities in the QS Asia University Rankings has seen a staggering 1,000 per cent jump over the last decade. 

The country has climbed to the 38th position among 139 economies in the Global Innovation Index (from 81 in 2015), driven by a vibrant startup ecosystem and a surge in patent filings. Furthermore, Stanford University’s Global AI Vibrancy Tool ranks India third globally for AI competitiveness, behind the US and China. This shift signals India’s definitive transition from being a base for support services to an epicentre of innovation and core business functions for global firms. India’s growing heft in global services value chains promises substantial employment opportunities for its talent, and will fuel a massive middle-class expansion in the coming decade. 

Political stability and vision 

This multi-dimensional success is reflected in the unprecedented domestic and international approval for Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Morning Consult recently ranked him as the world’s most popular leader with a 75 per cent approval rating. This domestic support was validated at the 2025 polls, with the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance winning Delhi and securing a massive re-election mandate in Bihar. 

At the core of this momentum is the vision of “Amrit Kaal” — a transformational two-decade roadmap towards “Viksit Bharat”, fuelled by aggressive development and youth empowerment. As these initiatives yield tangible results, 2025 will be remembered as the year India definitively announced its arrival as a great power. 

The writer is head, Centre for WTO Studies, Indian Institute of Foreign Trade