2026-01-27
5 分钟Narendra Modi, India's Prime Minister, was humbled in 2024.
His party lost its national majority and had to start ruling in coalition.
Policymaking looked listless for most of the next 12 months.
Some thought the re-election of Donald Trump,
with whom Mr Modi once got on famously, would strengthen his hand.
Instead, America's president whacked most Indian exports with tariffs, which now add up to 50%.
Yet,
adversity and the need to satisfy his coalition partners seem to have made Mr Modi more pragmatic.
Though he still indulges in divisive rhetoric,
he has taken fewer actions to goad or bully India's Muslims since his electoral setback.
Instead, he has concentrated on economic reforms,
which should help the country maintain its zippy growth rate.
If he keeps that up, Indians will benefit hugely.
The government expects India's economy to expand by 7.4% in the fiscal year that will end in March.
It may soon be bigger than Japan's and could overtake Germany's by 2028.
A decade-long effort to promote manufacturing is starting to show some results,
despite American tariffs.
India now assembles about a fifth of the world's iPhones.
Mr Modi seems to recognise that keeping growth high will require more work.
In the past few months,