Economist Danny Quah says India is well positioned to become a major architect of the artificial intelligence era by building on its strengths in technology, services and English-language capability. Quah, a professor of economics at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore, describes the opportunity in AI as essentially unbounded and believes India can be a massive actor in that space.
Quah warned that the global economic backdrop is changing. He argued that recent US tariff policies reflect a narrative among some in Washington that the United States has been taken advantage of and must push back, a stance that resonates with many of the administration’s supporters. At the same time, neutral observers, he noted, view the United States as having benefited enormously from the international system it helped build over the past eight decades.
That contrast has produced what Quah calls a form of revisionism. Where the US historically cautioned against other powers upsetting the rules-based order, it is now the country rewriting those rules. The result is heightened uncertainty, and other major economies are largely adopting a wait-and-watch posture while Washington recalibrates trade and foreign policy.
Tracing this turn toward protectionism to long-standing strands in American political history, Quah suggested that the roughly eight decades of comparatively open US trade policy may have been an exception rather than the norm. Whether Washington ultimately returns to a posture of international engagement or persists with protectionist moves remains unclear.
For India, Quah outlined three broad strategic responses: alignment with the United States, temporary acquiescence to buy strategic space, or mitigation through building alternative multilateral arrangements. He cautioned against automatic alignment with US policy, saying that blind alignment may not suit a country of India’s size and interests. Acquiescence can provide short-term flexibility, but mitigation offers a more sustainable path.
Mitigation, in Quah’s view, means India helping to construct cooperative systems and coalitions that reflect its needs and values. India is large enough to help build systems that work for it, alongside other partners. By leveraging its technology base, service ecosystem and English-language advantage, New Delhi can play a leading role in shaping a more balanced global order through practical coalitions of the willing.
