Best of BS Opinion: India-Nordic Summit marks wider shift in foreign policy

Today's opinion wrap examines the Bajaj group's legacy, India's Nordic outreach, oil trade vulnerabilities, the US Federal Reserve's independence and a book on Chapal Bhaduri

Hello, and welcome to Best of BS Opinion, our wrap of the day's opinion page. 

A few decades ago, there was an Indian ad that reached out in a way that few others had, positioning the product as a family member across the nation with a simple tagline that captured the swadeshi and atmanirbhar ambitions of the country before it became a political punchline: Hamara Bajaj. Indeed, the Bajaj name is widely recognised nationwide as of India's favourite homegrown industrial houses, a tradition that carries on today across generations, just like the group itself. It remains one of the few Indian business families that has undergone creative destruction and diversification to come out stronger. That the group’s flagships remain more or less dominant in their respective fields speaks volumes for the capabilities of the third and fourth generations that inherited this divided empire, notes our first editorial. However, challenges remain: the scions retain control over strategic decision-making, and the group has not managed to move beyond its core pre-liberalisation product mix. The next generation of Bajajs have their work cut out for them.  The India-Nordic Summit in Oslo marks a significant broadening of India’s engagement with the Nordic region from conventional diplomatic ties to a deeper strategic partnership and reflects a wider shift in Indian foreign policy towards geoeconomic and technology-driven partnerships, says our second editorial. India's green shift will benefit from technology sharing, while Norway's sovereign wealth fund can play an important role in financing India’s infrastructure and energy transition. But given the strict regulatory regime that Nordic investors operate under, India will need to strengthen its own regulatory predictability, institutional credibility, and governance standards to attract long-term capital.  Dharmakirti Joshi and Adhish Verma argue that India’s oil trade deficit is becoming a structural vulnerability as its rising dependence on energy imports collides with geopolitical shocks and slowing global demand for refined petroleum exports. Despite lower crude prices in recent years, the deficit widened because domestic demand kept climbing while export earnings weakened. They warn that higher oil prices caused by the West Asia conflict will further strain India’s current account, the rupee, and foreign exchange reserves. What India needs to do is to adopt a multi-pronged strategy: diversify crude supplies, expand strategic reserves, accelerate domestic exploration, scale up ethanol blending and electric vehicles, modernise public transport, and increase investment in renewables, cleaner coal technologies, and nuclear energy.  Kevin Warsh’s appointment as US Federal Reserve chair marks a critical test of central bank independence under Donald Trump, writes Rajesh Kumar, noting how Jerome Powell faced political attacks and legal pressure for resisting demands for lower interest rates. Warsh, a former Fed governor and advocate of sweeping institutional reform, supports tighter monetary discipline, a smaller Fed balance sheet, and reduced central bank communication. However, elevated inflation, rising US debt, geopolitical uncertainty, and Trump’s penchant for lower borrowing costs may constrain him. Given the political and economic environment he is walking into, Warsh’s biggest challenge may well come from politics rather than monetary policy.  Reviewing Sandip Roy’s Chapal Rani, The Last Queen of Bengal, Chittajit Mitra argues that the book is both a portrait of legendary female impersonator Chapal Bhaduri and a wider meditation on gender, performance and social exclusion in Indian folk theatre. The review traces Bhaduri’s rise in Bengal’s jatra tradition, his eventual marginalisation as women entered the stage, and his rediscovery late in life. Mitra praises Roy for preserving Bhaduri’s voice and resisting reductive queer labels, while illuminating the economics and hierarchies of vernacular performance traditions. The book ultimately emerges as a poignant account of artistic survival, self-expression and India’s long, often ignored history of gender diversity.