Amid talk of fractures in world trade, India continues to pursue globalisation as an economic development strategy. As new trade deals deepen India’s global ties, policymakers should reckon with these uneven geographic impacts. The Multi-Fiber Arrangement previously governed global trade in textiles and apparel and erected protectionist quotas that shielded the US and Europe from competition with emerging economies like India. Government efforts to alleviate local concerns and protect migrants from targeting and discrimination may be necessary to limit costly social conflict that could result from deepening global economic integration. My research suggests that if deepening integration continues to transform internal migration, even its positive economic impacts are likely to have disruptive political consequences.