India has shown strong resilience and absorptive capacity in the face of repeated global shocks, noted the Economic Survey 2025-26, presented in Parliament on Thursday.
However, the next phase of its development challenge is different: Moving from being primarily a recipient of stability to becoming a source of stability and opportunity for others, it said.
“This transition from resilience to interdependence is central to India’s journey towards Viksit Bharat,” said the annual survey, presented ahead of the Union budget. “It underscores that competitiveness, export capability, and deep integration into regional and global production networks are essential instruments of influence in a fragmented world.”
The power game
Australia-based think tank Lowy Institute’s Asia Power Index 2025 showed that India has reclaimed major power status in Asia with a score of 40 points, even as its rising profile highlights a sharp gap between resources and influence.
Despite ranking third in overall power, India languishes at 10th in economic relationships. Its Power Gap, which measures whether countries punch above or below their weight by comparing resources to influence, stands at -4.0, indicating that resources are not yet fully translating into regional influence.
Countries with outsized influence relative to resources show positive gaps, and those exerting less influence than their resources suggest register negative gaps.
For the first time since the index was launched in 2018, India's economic relationships ranking has improved. The country has overtaken China as Asia's leading destination for inward investment after the US, measured on a 10-year cumulative basis—a shift reflecting both geopolitical supply chain diversification and India's surging attractiveness to global capital.
Yet India's underperformance is relative. Its overall score of 40 and expected score of 44 are more even when compared with top overachievers like Japan, which scores 38.8 overall against an expected 27.5. India's power is undeniable—the question is how effectively it will be wielded.