Nowadays, Western countries are facing the ascendance of new economic rivals, especially the two Asian giants: China and India. India is described as an emerging global power through the eyes of the journalists in the financial press, who emphasize its successful Bollywood movie industry, its booming IT sector with thousands of high skilled engineers threatening western jobs, its excessively rapid growth and its companies which are becoming powerful enough to buy out western companies; such as the recent takeover of Jaguar Land Rover by the Indian Tata Motors. If journalists are very optimistic about the future of India, which they believe will become the new superpower by 2050, we have to wonder if India has enough assets to become a global power or if it is a mere utopia. After describing how India has become an emerging country in a first part of this analysis, we will define the assets of India that let us think that this country can become a global power someday and finally, we will underline the elements with which India will have to deal before aspiring to this rank.
[...] Recently, India took part in climate change negotiations among the most powerful countries in the world. By signing a nuclear deal with the United States in 2005, India proved its power and co-operation with the US. Finally, if India used to be a recipient of aid, it is now a donator. Indeed, India has taken part in disaster relief for the victims of the tsunami in 2004. India has clearly proved it can grow quickly and play with the big boys. But will India be able to keep developing? [...]
[...] This enabled the country to become wealthier and reinforce its relationships with the main actors of the global economy. In the same period, with the arrival of new technologies, India decided to base its economy on knowledge. They gave priority to the development of the Indian IT sector and tried to link up its education system with American and European universities so that students would be as skilled as possible. Over the last decades, India also clearly proved its geopolitical interests by getting involved in international bodies. [...]
[...] The benefits of the Colonial Period Before becoming independent in 1947, India was colonized by the British over two centuries. During this colonial period, the British clearly showed India the way of development. First, they implemented social reforms by adapting the occidental pattern in order to improve the social conditions of the Indians. They notably abolished slavery and other habits that they judged tyrannical. Then, in the 18th century, they improved the education system by building prestigious universities; which were reserved for elite and “regular” schools so that more people could be educated. [...]
[...] A country where bribery is high does not attract at all investors of abroad, so if India does not want to lose its investor, it has to control its corruption. Moreover, in India, there is also great deal of bureaucracy. For instance, if you want to set up a business in India, you need 71 days versus 5 days in the United States. Too much Bureaucracy significantly discourages entrepreneurs. Renovate its infrastructures “India has underinvested in infrastructure for 60 years, and we're behind what we need by 10 to 12 years says T.V. [...]
[...] A democracy by definition is a form of government in which all the human beings have the same rights. But how a country can call itself democratic when its society remains in the caste system? The caste system is a religious heritage that classifies the population into different groups depending on their relative inherited degrees of ritual purity or pollution and on their social status. Therefore, the image of India diffused by the media is far too restrictive and quite incorrect; their passion about the future of India seems to be way too optimistic. [...]
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