The Omicron variant of the COVID-19 virus was threatening the world at the beginning of 2022, and the impact was more severe in developing countries like Bangladesh. The pandemic impacted overall growth and dented the economy to a great extent. Most of the countries in South Asia, including Bangladesh, have suffered losses in its aftermath. Meanwhile, the ongoing economic crisis and the Russia-Ukraine war halted Bangladesh's economic growth as it was about to emerge from the problem posed by COVID-19.

India at 75 is not what it was during the Cold War, striving to preserve autonomy of national action between two hostile politico-military blocs. Those blocs are gone. At the World Economic Forum in Davos recently, captains of industry and helmspersons of major economies were seeking silver linings in the overcast global economic scenario. But the dominant message from political leaders was that it is geopolitics that will shape the future course of globalisation.