Earlier this month, U.S. President Donald Trump remarked that India reduced Russian oil imports to make him happy, and issued a further warning that more tariffs could be imposed if India displeases him. What is broken is not just global trade, but the political system that governs it. What is taking its place is a return to mercantilism — a view of trade as an instrument of state power, where surpluses are strength and deficits are weakness. Globalisation is a political system that defined how governments ran markets and societies, and how they engaged with each other and with networked global institutions that they had established. Over time, China accumulated enough power to emerge as an alternative model for both economic growth and consolidation of domestic political power.

Source: The Hindu January 30, 2026 11:52 UTC