Best of BS Opinion: How the world keeps fumbling its gift deliveries

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

There’s something magical about the moment before a gift is given. The box sits there, tied with a ribbon and glimmering with promise. But as every seasoned Santa knows, the magic isn’t just in the gift, it’s in the delivery. Wrap it wrong, deliver it late, or hand it to the wrong person, and even the most precious present can lose its charm. Currently, the world feels like a giant warehouse of boxed-up intentions with every nation, institution, and regulator holding a carefully wrapped package of plans. But the challenge remains in getting those gifts to the right doorstep, at the right time. Let’s dive in. 

 

The IMF just sent out its latest package of hope, gently upgrading global growth forecasts. The US gets a modest 2 per cent, while India a healthier 6.6 per cent. But Washington, ever the unpredictable courier, is delaying the delivery of global confidence. The IMF even warns that uncertainty alone can shrink investment by 2 per cent. Our first editorial points out that India’s best bet is to keep negotiating trade deals with steady hands before the fragile gift of export momentum gets misplaced in this global shuffle. 

Across another corridor of diplomacy, a different kind of parcel is being reopened. A year after the bitter freeze over Hardeep Singh Nijjar’s killing, India and Canada are trying to carefully rewrap their damaged relationship. With Justin Trudeau replaced by Mark Carney — an economist, the temperature has thawed just enough for a cordial joint statement and revived trade talks. Yet, the contents remain fragile. Our second editorial notes that the Nijjar trial in the US and Canada’s parallel overtures to China hover like fragile ornaments: pretty, but easy to break. 

Meanwhile, on home turf, Sebi has decided to repack the rules for big companies going public. Ajay Tyagi warns that the new rules might be gifts only the big players can open. By allowing them to list with just 2.5 per cent public shareholding, it’s handing out glossy boxes that look generous but leave little room for the public to peek inside. A more balanced wrapping, perhaps with 10 per cent at listing and 25 per cent within two years, might make the offering fairer and fit for every investor at the table. 

And then there’s India’s grandest treasure chest, its foreign exchange reserves, now at a dazzling $700.2 billion. Dharmakirti Joshi, Adhish Verma, and Meera Mohan remind us that it’s the safety stockpile that cushions every global shock, one to be handled with care because it is built not on trade surpluses but on fickle capital inflows and must be guarded from volatility and tariffs alike. 

Finally, Neha Bhatt reviews a book that reminds us why gifts of empathy matter most. On the Margins of Protection, edited by Paula Banerjee, lays bare the hypocrisy behind the refugee protection system, a world that calls displacement a “crisis” only when it reaches its own borders. Beneath the shiny paper of “protection” lies a hierarchy of compassion, where some lives are boxed and labelled as less deserving. 

Stay tuned!