DAVOS HAS ALWAYS BEEN a barometer of global mood. Each year, amid the stillness of the Swiss Alps, the world’s leaders gather not just to exchange views, but to take stock of where the global system truly stands. In 2026, the atmosphere was sober, realistic and stripped of excess optimism. The global economy remains under strain, geopolitical fragmentation is deepening, and institutions of cooperation are being tested as never before.

Within this context, India’s role stood out quietly but clearly.

India was not presented just as a standalone theme or confined to a country narrative. Instead, it appeared across the agenda in topics that mattered most: energy transition, artificial intelligence, manufacturing resilience, workforce adaptation, digital governance and inclusive growth. This was not incidental. It reflected a broader reassessment of India’s place in the global system — not as a future opportunity, but as a present determinant.

This marks an important transition — from visibility to partnership.

The explanation lies in the changing nature of global growth. Trade has lost some of its force as an engine of expansion. Fiscal capacity is constrained across advanced and emerging economies alike. Political consensus, once taken for granted, has become fragile. In such conditions, scale alone offers limited reassurance. What increasingly matters is the capacity to implement complex transitions quickly, without undermining stability.

India’s recent trajectory aligns closely with this requirement. Over the past decade, India has pursued parallel transformations across infrastructure, manufacturing, digital public goods, energy systems and service delivery — at population scale. These efforts are ongoing, but they demonstrate something rare: that large, diverse systems can still move with coherence when policy intent and execution are aligned.

At Davos, this capacity for delivery carried greater weight than declarations. Conversations on supply-chain diversification, industrial policy and infrastructure investment repeatedly returned to a practical question: where can capital be deployed over long horizons with reasonable confidence in absorption and continuity? India was consistently part of that answer.

Artificial intelligence sharpened this focus further. WEF 2026 marked a decisive shift in the AI discussion — from experimentation to deployment, and from potential to accountability. As leaders debated how AI might be scaled without exacerbating inequality or eroding trust, India emerged as a critical reference point.

Not because it leads in frontier research, but because it represents the conditions under which AI must ultimately prove itself: large populations, constrained resources, diverse applications and real social consequences. In India, AI cannot remain confined to pilots or prototypes. It must function in healthcare systems, classrooms, financial networks and public administration — and do so affordably. That reality makes India central to the question of how advanced technologies integrate with society at scale.

Energy transition presented a similar logic. Davos discussions on the topic moved decisively beyond targets and pledges. The emphasis is now on execution — grid capacity, financing structures, intermittency management and energy security alongside decarbonisation.

India’s position is distinctive. It is a rapidly growing energy consumer, one of the world’s largest renewable energy markets, and a country managing development and climate obligations simultaneously. As a result, it is increasingly viewed not as a drag on global climate ambition, but as a proving ground for solutions that must work in emerging economies if they are to work anywhere.

Predictability has also become a defining feature of India’s Davos narrative. In a global environment marked by abrupt policy shifts and strategic uncertainty, continuity has acquired real value. Investors and businesses are placing greater emphasis on regulatory clarity, institutional depth and long-term direction.

India’s reforms trajectory, once contested, is now regarded as consistent. That perception — more than fiscal incentives or policy announcements — has reinforced India’s appeal as a destination for long-term capital, particularly in manufacturing, infrastructure and clean energy.

Geopolitically, India’s positioning also resonates. As alliances become more fluid and blocs less cohesive, India occupies a distinctive space. It engages with advanced economies and emerging markets alike, maintaining strategic autonomy while remaining economically integrated.

This capacity to operate as a bridge — rather than align rigidly with any single camp — adds to India’s relevance at a time when cooperation increasingly takes place through flexible, interest-based arrangements rather than universal frameworks.

Davos 2026 did not signal a return to an earlier era of globalisation. It reflected acceptance that the world is entering a more fragmented and contested phase. Within that context, India’s role appeared consistently as constructive and stabilising.

India is no longer present at Davos to argue its case or advertise its potential. It has moved on. Today, it is engaged as a country whose consistency, institutional stability and ability to deliver at scale will materially influence whether the next phase of global economic, technological and environmental transition succeeds.

(The author is vice chairman, RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group. Views are personal.)