New Delhi, Jan 29 (PTI) — In a world marked by mounting geopolitical turbulence, India must run a “marathon and sprint” simultaneously, or run a marathon as if it were a sprint, the Economic Survey 2025-26 said on Thursday, underlining the need for sustained resilience alongside rapid policy execution.
The pre-Budget document tabled in Parliament said the global environment is being reshaped by geopolitical realignments that will influence investment flows, supply chains and growth prospects for years to come. Against this backdrop, it said India must resist the temptation of short-term fixes and instead remain focused on long-term goals.
“Against today’s global churn, India must choose to build resilience, innovate relentlessly and stay the course towards Viksit Bharat, rather than seek quick fixes to visible, short-term pressures,” the Survey said.
It noted that 2026 could mark a turning point when policy credibility, predictability and administrative discipline evolve from being mere virtues into strategic assets with lasting relevance. “Put differently, India must run a marathon and sprint simultaneously, or run a marathon as if it were a sprint,” it said.
According to the Survey, the appropriate stance for the coming year is one of strategic sobriety rather than defensive pessimism. It cautioned that geopolitical uncertainty and external shocks may not be confined to a single year but could become enduring features of the global landscape.
The document said India must prioritise domestic growth while strengthening its ability to absorb shocks, with greater emphasis on buffers, redundancy and liquidity. It stressed that rising incomes would inevitably be accompanied by higher imports, regardless of indigenisation efforts, making it essential for India to generate adequate investor interest and export earnings in foreign currency.
While noting that India is relatively better placed than many other economies due to strong macroeconomic fundamentals, the Survey cautioned that this does not guarantee insulation from global volatility. It highlighted India’s large domestic market, less financialised growth model, robust foreign exchange reserves and strategic autonomy as key buffers in an environment where financial volatility is imminent and geopolitical uncertainty permanent.
The Survey observed that the paradox of 2025 was that India’s strongest macroeconomic performance in decades coincided with a global system that no longer rewards such success with currency stability, capital inflows or strategic insulation.
On global trade tensions, it said that although the US President announced reciprocal tariffs of 25 per cent on India in April, India was initially expected to reach an early agreement with the US administration. However, the subsequent announcement in August of an additional penal tariff of 25 per cent on most Indian merchandise exports surprised many.
Despite downward revisions to growth forecasts following the tariff moves, the Survey said growth eventually accelerated due to a series of structural reforms and policy measures. PTI
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