Editorial 1: ​ A profound shift in the global order

Context

History should encourage India to prioritize its own path and future.

Introduction

India is at another inflexion point, reminiscent of Vasco De Gama sailing into Kozhikode in 1498 and a complacent Zamorin lacking strategic vision. Instead of trade routes, global value chains are being reshaped by force. The stakesare high for India, which is poised to become the third largest economy.

• The 75-year-old post-colonial order of globalisation with multilateralism and rule-based restrictions is outdated, as China has overtaken the U.S. in donations, manufacturing, and global trade.
• WTO, UN, and Treaties lost relevance, leading to U.S. withdrawals.
• The COVID-19 pandemic exposed the G-7‘s failure to consider others’ needs, and now the group is splitting, creating a vacuum, with BRICS seeking more members.
• Trump responds to a more equal world shifting away from colonial frameworks.
• Bilateral deals are forcing countries to compromise, with tariffs defined by trade imbalances affecting national laws.
• LDCs no longer have privileges.
• The U.S. is restructuring its approach to prosperity and power, and others should follow.

A post-WTO frame

• The breakup of the G-7 and G-20 leaves global agenda-setting open.
• Since 2020, the U.S., China, the European Union, and India have contributed nearly three-quarters of all growth, with the U.S. and China accounting for nearly half.
• There is a decline in the relative power of the U.S., and Russia has become an Asian power, strengthening energy ties with China and India.
• Asia will soon control two-thirds of global wealth and power, as it did throughout most of civilisation, except during the colonial era.
• Geopolitics is returning to its natural state of co-existence and shared prosperity.
• India must be strategic to seize new opportunities with the dismantling of the WTO, similar to how China used its WTO entry for its rise.
• The U.S. and China are nearly balanced in terms of influence, trade, technology, and defensive military capacity, engaging in tit-for-tat on tariffs.
• The challenge for India is to manage trade relations with the U.S., promoting its agricultural and energy surpluses, while strengthening its rapprochement with China.
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently stated that this is the Asian Century.
• The turmoil within ASEAN presents an opportunity to work towards an Asian common market with bilateral concessions to share prosperity.
• As the WTO’s ‘most-favoured nation’ clause weakens, India should propose a new cooperative architecture to ASEAN and the African Union, as their consumption will soon exceed that of the U.S. and Europe.
• India’s world-class diplomats should develop a new set of global governance principles for a more equal world.
• To benefit from global value chains reliant on technology rather than tariffs, India must establish new rules that reduce non-tariff barriers and treat linkages between goods, services, investment, and infrastructure as part of composite agreements, with annual reviews of national impacts.

Trade and innovation neglected

Aspect	Details
Post-Colonial Foreign Policy	Post-colonial India focused on balancing great powers, relying more on tactics than strategy.
Bandung Conference	The Bandung Conference (1955) was a challenge to the post-colonial world.
Non-Aligned Movement	Nehru moved India to the Non-Aligned Movement in 1961, shifting focus from economic development to peace.
India’s Relations with the West	India remained poor while becoming a darling of the West, with a focus on UN resolutionsrather than trade.
Technological Innovation	India ignored technological innovation through academia–industry partnerships.
Strategic Decisions	India must form a national consensus on skills, employment, and technological leadership.
Colonialism’s Impact	The West developed via colonialism, while India must engage with China, ASEAN, and Africa as value chains shift.
Global Treaties	The era of global goods and treaties is ending, and smaller nations seek alternatives to choosing sides.
India’s Technological Potential	India can lead in open-source software to shape future multilateralism and cooperation.
Technological Advancements	Huawei and DeepSeek AI show India’s potential in 7nm chips and AI models.
China and India in Tech	China excels in hardware, while India once led in software but has faltered.

Conclusion: Lesson from China

The key lesson from China’s re-emergence is achieving prosperity through endogenous pathways, avoiding the Western model of socio-economic growth. Patents are a better indicator of future prosperity than GDP. Lowering electricity costsis a key incentive for economic restructuring, and prosperity is the best response to climate change. India must set grand challenges with academia and industry to leverage its world-class human talent, vast data, and proven digital infrastructure to create the best large language models, establishing India as a major cyber power. In the digital world, AI is the foundation of wealth and influence, similar to India’s historic global dominance in textiles through skill rather than monopoly.

Editorial 2: Strengthening parliamentary oversight in India

Context

Along with ‘maximum governance‘, there must be ‘maximum accountability‘, which should begin with an empowered and effective Parliament.

Introduction

Over nearly three years, the Constituent Assembly met for 167 days to draft the Constitution of India, debating the form of government. Dr. B.R. Ambedkar defended the parliamentary system, highlighting its balance of responsibility and stability as vital for a functioning democracy. He emphasized the system’s ability to ensure daily accountability through Parliament and periodic accountability via elections.

A diminishing of oversight

Issue	Details
Checks and Balances	While the Constitution enshrines checks and balances, legislative oversight has often been diminished.
Efficiency vs Transparency	Efficiency in governance is crucial, but not at the cost of transparency.
Strengthening Parliament’s Role	Strengthening Parliament’s role in scrutinising executive action is key to making laws and ensuring their effective implementation and accountability.
Maximum Governance and Accountability	If India seeks ‘Maximum Governance’, it must also commit to ‘Maximum Accountability’, starting with an empowered and effective Parliament.
Mechanisms of Accountability	Parliament has developed mechanisms like Question Hour, Zero Hour, and Standing Committees for scrutiny and accountability.
Question Hour and Zero Hour	Question Hour and Zero Hour are vital for daily scrutiny, but often disrupted by protests, limiting their effectiveness.
Effectiveness of Question Hour	In the 17th Lok Sabha (2019-24), Question Hour functioned for 60% of its scheduled time in the Lok Sabha and 52% in the Rajya Sabha.
Focus of MPs	MPs often focus on isolated queries rather than on systematic scrutiny of complex, cross-ministerial issues.
Parliamentary Committees	Standing Committees generate detailed reports but these are often not discussed on the floor of the house, reducing their impact.
Limitations of Committees	Committee findings have limited influence on legislation or executive action despite detailed evaluations.
Diversity and Stakeholder Engagement	Committee consultations tend to engage a small group of stakeholders, raising concerns about diversity and the breadth of input.
Temporary Structure of Committees	The temporary nature of committees limits members’ ability to develop expertise and institutional standing.

Some successes

• Indian legislative oversighthas had notable successes despite its inconsistencies:
  • The Standing Committee on Railways recommended waiving dividend payments by Indian Railways in 2015, improving its financial health, which was implemented in 2016.
  • The Standing Committee on Transport influenced amendments to the Motor Vehicles Bill in 2017, including removing caps on third-party insurance and establishing a National Road Safety Board.
  • The Committee on Public Undertakings addressed delays in National Highways Authority of India (NHAI)-managed projects, recommending that projects start only after acquiring 80% of land and necessary clearances.
  • The Estimates Committee advised increasing domestic uranium production by opening new mines to reduce dependency on imports.
  • The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) exposed delays, opaque appointments, and corruption during the Commonwealth Games (2010). Over the past eight years, the PAC made 180 recommendations annually, with 80% accepted by the government.
• To makeoversight more effective, Parliament must implement targeted reforms:
  • Start with post-legislative scrutiny to track whether laws are achieving their intended impact.
  • India currently lacks a formal process to track the impact of laws after their passage.
  • This gap can be addressed by creating subcommittees under each Standing Committee or a specialised body to review implementation.
• TheUnited Kingdomprovides a useful model:
  • Government departments review major laws within three to five years, which are then examined by parliamentary committees, enabling timely course correction and ensuring laws deliver on their promises.
• Strengthening and institutionalising committee work should be a priority:
  • Make oversight findings more accessible through translations in local languages, visual explainers, or short videos.
  • Select DRSC reports should be brought to the floor for debate, followed by a mandatory response from the Minister concerned.
  • This would ensure committee work informs parliamentary discourse and enhances executive accountability.
  • Committees must be strengthened with dedicated research and technical support, moving beyond administrative assistance.

Adopt technology

• Technology presents a significant opportunity to modernise and enhance parliamentary oversight.
• MPs in India frequently work without specialised staff or professional research support, hindering their ability to scrutinise complex policies or spending data.
• The sheer volume of budget documents, audit reports, and policy reviews puts them at a disadvantage.
• By utilising Artificial Intelligence and data analytics, Parliament can help members quickly identify irregularities, monitor policy trends, and craft more focused, evidence-based questions.

Conclusion

While delivering the inaugural address held to formally inaugurate the new Standing Committees in 1993, the then Vice-President K.R. Narayanan said that the main purpose of the system was not to weaken or criticise the administration but to strengthen it by investing it with more meaningful parliamentary support. Strengthening legislative oversight means honouring the mandate citizens have given their representatives; to make sure the machinery of government stays transparent, accountable, and truly “of the people, by the people, and for the people.”