What to Read in Indian Express Editorial( Topic and Syllabus wise)

Editorial 1 : Pushing back

Context

Security imperative must be insulated from politics. Only then will it engender a security that endures.

Has to follow due process

• In the wake of the brutal terrorist attack on Pahalgam, the government has done the right thing by heightening security across the country.
• It has intensified operations against terrorists and given greater urgency to increasing surveillance along the borders.
• Last month, the Union Ministry of Home Affairs issued an order asking states and Union Territories to detect and deport foreigners, especially people from Bangladesh and Myanmar, living illicitly in the country.
• The Centre’s instructions have prompted several states to intensify their ongoing operations against suspected illegal immigrants.
• The issue of illegal immigration has raised its head time and again in the heat and dust of Indian politics.
• The Centre and state governments must understand that the current moment has a far more compelling imperative than polarising politics— the two should be kept scrupulously apart.
• However, reports in this newspaper shine a light on the disquieting tendency among authorities to ignore court proceedings— and take the short cut bypassing due process.

Not an easy task

• In Assam and several other regions of the Northeast, the movement of people across the mostly porous border across Bangladesh is an immensely sensitive and fraught issue.
• On the one hand, the movement of people across regions has a long history that predates Partition.
• On the other hand, the anti-outsider sentiment was the major trigger for the Assam agitation and has often led to violence in the state.
• The state government’s aggressive use of the Foreigner’s Tribunal – it sets March 25, 1971, as the cut-off date for citizenship in Assam– has left thousands with an uncertain future.
• The onus is almost always on the accused to prove their citizenship. Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma has cited a Supreme Court directive of February in support of the latest anti-immigration drive. However, Sarma’s past pronouncements — especially his use of dog whistles, “land jihad” and “flood jihad,” to refer to the migrant problem — do not inspire confidence.

Conclusion

• That Myanmar and Bangladesh are in political turmoil today doesn’t make the task any easier.
• That should not, however, be the rationale for rounding off suspected illegal migrants and pushing them across borders.
• On immigration crackdown, the short-cut will always be more expedient — most of the victims are vulnerable and without adequate representation — but due process, even if it is a long haul, needs to be followed and seen to be followed.

 

Editorial 2 : Back on road to growth

Context

GDP figures show India is back on the road to growth.

The estimates

• The National Statistics Office’s (NSO) provisional estimates peg India’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth at 6.5 per cent for 2024-25,with the fourth quarter growing at a blistering 7.4 per cent.
• The positive surprises in GDP revisions seen in the past three fiscals may end here, at least for now. The economy seems to be realigning with its long-term trend growth.
• The decadal average growth before the Covid-19 pandemic was 6.6 per cent.
• In India’s GDP reporting framework, provisional estimates are more reliable and enduring than the two preceding advance estimates.
• India’s nominal GDP, which factors in the inflation rate, grew 9.8 per cent in fiscal 2025. Put another way, the size of the absolute economy reached $3.91 trillion from $3.6 trillion in fiscal 2024.

The trends

• Private consumption grew a good 7.2 per cent on rural demand even as urban stayed subdued.
• Government consumption expenditure, too, was restrained, growing 2.3 per cent for the full fiscal year and dropping to -1.8 per cent in the fourth quarter.
• Government investments picked up sharply in the fourth quarter, helping investment growth outpace GDP.
• Central government capex exceeded the revised estimates for the full fiscal.
• On the supply side, agriculture and services performed well, but manufacturing was a laggard, growing 4.5 per cent — slower than agriculture.
• Labour-intensive construction ratcheting up 9.4 per cent over the double-digit growth last fiscal augurs well for employment.

The coming year

• The economic outlook for fiscal 2026 will be shaped by global tariff shocks and India’s policy response.
• Though largely domestic-driven, India’s growing trade and capital ties with developed nations expose it to global disruptions.
• The external environment shifted significantly due to US-imposed tariffs and ongoing trade tensions.
• Direct effects include reduced US demand for Indian exports,as US growth is forecast to slow to 1.5% in 2025 from 2.8% in 2024.
• Indirectly, India could be hit by slower growth in key markets like the EU and Asia, with global GDP expected to fall to 2.7% in 2025 from 3.3% in 2024.
• Elevated US tariffs on China may worsen Chinese overcapacity, diverting goods to India. A temporary 115% tariff rollback between the US and China offers short-lived relief amid ongoing uncertainty.

India has buffers

• This uncertainty is stalling private investment and adding volatility to capital flows, markets, and currencies.
• However, India has buffers. Services exports, now nearly half of total exports, are less sensitive to global trade swings.
• While goods trade is expected to contract by 0.2% in 2025, services trade is projected to grow 4%.
• India’s low current account deficit, modest external debt, and $686 billion in forex reserves reduce risk exposure.
• Domestically, a strong wheat and pulses harvest, good monsoon forecast, and crude oil averaging $65 per barrel should help control inflation and support growth.
• Low food inflation will benefit lower-income households, boosting discretionary spending.
• Urban demand will also gain from tax cuts and low interest rates, supporting overall consumption.
• Despite subdued private investment and limited public spending capacity, India benefits from global supply-chain realignments.
• Apple will make most US-bound iPhones in India, and a Vietnamese EV firm is opening a plant here. Strong corporate balance sheets enable Indian firms to seize such opportunities.

Conclusion

Still, structural reforms are essential to enhance investment appeal and long-term growth. We expect GDP growth of 6.5% in FY26, with risks skewed to the downside.