New Delhi, March 20 India is carefully balancing the objectives of reliable energy with the transition to cleaner sources for sustainable growth, a policy approach that helps ensure its energy security amid the West Asia crisis, EAC–PM Chairman S Mahendra Dev said on Friday.
Addressing the ISID-WIDER conference, the Chairman of the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (EAC-PM) said geopolitical developments, including the recent conflicts in West Asia, have underscored the fragility of the global economic system and its impact on global energy security and prices.
"These events have brought renewed focus on one fundamental truth…energy security is central to sustained, resilient, and inclusive economic growth.
"India's policy approach has evolved precisely in response to this reality. It is characterised by a careful balancing of two objectives. One is ensuring reliable and affordable energy to fuel growth and also equity. Second is advancing a decisive transition towards cleaner and more sustainable energy systems," Dev said.
And this dual commitment is clearly articulated in India's climate strategy, he added.
He also said there are several persistent global headwinds, characterised by geopolitical fragmentation, volatile financial conditions, vulnerabilities in supply chains, and elevated global uncertainty due to the recent wars and tariff shocks.
In the new fractured or multipolar global world, he said, multilateral institutions, like the rule-based WTO, have been weakened.
"There is also continuous demand to reform multilateral development banks like the IMF and the World Bank," the EAC-PM Chairman said.
Dev further said India's answer to global turmoil in terms of wars, tariff shocks, and protection in manufacturing is the self-reliant India.
"We call it Atmanirbhar Bharat," he said, adding that the government has undertaken several reforms, including ease of doing business and deregulation.
He said self-reliance does not mean that "we are going back to import substitution policies".
The focus is on strategic manufacturing and improving the competitiveness for producing quality products for domestic consumption and exports, he pointed out.
Dev also placed India’s green industrialisation agenda within a broader development strategy centred on energy security, manufacturing, employment, and inclusive growth.
Stressing that the transition must be both ambitious and equitable, he said that with the right mix of policy, innovation, and collective effort, India can not only achieve its developmental aspirations but also emerge as a global leader in shaping a sustainable and inclusive future.
The conference hosted by UNU-WIDER in partnership with ISID brought together researchers, policymakers, and development practitioners to examine growth, governance, and geopolitics in a fractured world order.