New Delhi, March 8 -- If you thought 2025 was a tough transition, 2026 now seems to have plenty more surprises in store. India, in particular, has to trek through two tricky minefields over the next 10 months: energy security and technological flux. These two prickly issues will have to fight for the political leadership's mind-space, cluttered as it is with tricky geopolitics, rising unemployment, sticky economic growth and an always-on electoral cycle. There's another daunting challenge: dealing with a mercurial world leader with rapidly shifting objectives.

A face in Greek mythology is said to have launched a thousand ships. In contemporary times, there is a world leader who has been subjected to multiple names. US president Donald Tr...