India can emerge as a key winner in the shifting global economic landscape triggered by US President Donald Trump’s reciprocal tariffs, according to Ben Powell, chief investment strategist for Asia–Pacific at BlackRock.

Powell described the current disruption in the world trading system as a “fascinating opportunity” for India to strengthen economic ties and elevate its global standing.

“Everyone wants to be friends with India,” Powell told NDTV Profit in a conversation citing India’s demographic weight and impressive domestic growth story. “Whether you are China, whether you are the US, the EU, the UK… I would have thought everyone would be urgently phoning Indian authorities and saying, hey, can we get a little bit closer for our mutual benefit.”

Powell acknowledged the current volatility, calling it a reflection of the “disintegration of the existing world trading order” and a potential precursor to a more prosperous but still undefined new global framework.

He warned of both direct and second-order consequences of higher tariffs globally. “We would expect to see growth lower and inflation higher in the US,” Powell said, pointing out that elevated inflation could limit the Federal Reserve’s flexibility in supporting the economy.

Amid this uncertainty, Powell struck an optimistic note on India’s prospects, calling it “the growth story of the world right now”. He emphasised that India’s progress is “not a theoretical growth story” but a result of tangible productivity and efficiency improvements over the past decade.

Powell suggested India must now decide how to best leverage this moment — potentially as a manufacturing hub for economies seeking alternatives to China. “Could the government do even more to incentivise manufacturing in India? Clearly, 1.4 billion prospective consumers are very, very attractive to every country and company on the planet,” he said.

He is expecting fervent diplomacy over the next three-to-six-to-nine months, including in India, as leaders try to take advantage of the tumult for the benefit of their own people.

Despite short-term swings, he said there was still a lot in the world to be positive about, especially with megatrends like artificial intelligence and India’s domestic consumption story playing out.

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