Whatever happened with this?
India to become superpower by 2012: Kalam - Economic Times
India to become superpower by 2012: Kalam
PTIMay 2, 2008, 05.13pm IST
UDHAGAMANDALAM: Former President A P J Abdul Kalam today lauded ISRO's scientists for successfully launching the PSLV-C9 to put 10 satellites in orbit.
Besides, the Chandrayaan-I unmanned moon mission by the year end would add another feather in the country's space programme, Kalam, here to participate in a school function, said.
India has become very advanced in space technology, he said, adding the country would become a superpower by 2012.
"Though I have envisioned India to become a superpower by 2020, the attitude and the confidence of the youth, to conquer everything in the right spirit, would make the country a global leader and super power within five years," Kalam told reporters.
Now for some common sense:
‘India Is Not a Superpower’ - India Real Time - WSJ
‘India Is Not a Superpower’
Dibyangshu Sarkar/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images
The Indian tiger is unlikely to rival the Chinese dragon any time soon.
That’s the damning conclusion of a study recently published by the London School of Economics based on parameters that include governance, defense, the economy and the environment.
While India “has a soft-power story to tell as a model of liberal political and economic development,” it’s unlikely to become a “democratic counterweight” to China any time soon,
writes Nicholas Kitchen in his foreword to the collection of essays.
Bollywood and curry, more than international relations or business, is how India is most likely to have a global impact, suggests Mr. Kitchen. “The cultural impact of Indian cuisine, literature, films, music and sporting events will increasingly be felt globally through and beyond India’s vast diaspora,” writes Mr. Kitchen. This is likely to be more significant than any “constructive international role” India will continue to play, he says.
Ouch. This won’t go down well with the many India optimists who have long been debating what kind of superpower
the country should aim to be.
And it gets worse: Not only is India not a superpower, it may never become one, the study says.
Perhaps it should stop trying, argue some of the study’s contributors, who include historian Ramachandra Guha, author of the best-selling “India After Gandhi.” His essay in the LSE study is worth a closer look.
For Mr. Guha, India is failing its founding fathers on multiple fronts. He describes the country’s ruling politicians as “men and women of limited intelligence and dubious integrity” and says they have not been able to stand up to the challenges posed by extremists, the Naxalite or Maoist guerrillas on one end and right-wing Hindu activists on the other.
The government’s poor handling of economic growth has meant that the gap between the rich and poor has widened, reinforcing caste-based divisions, says Mr. Guha.
“One reason that inequalities tapered off in the West was because their governments worked effectively towards providing equality of opportunity,” writes Mr. Guha. “The situation in India is all too different… only a properly functioning state can equalize the life chances of all Indians.”
Crucially, India lacks an adequate welfare system. The state’s inability to provide healthcare and education for everyone means that it’s uncertain whether most of India’s population will ever fall in the middle class, adds Mr. Guha.
Economic liberalization also led to an “anti-environmental backlash” in the country. “Environmentalists are portrayed as party-poopers, as spoilers who do not want India to join the ranks of the Great Powers of the world,” Mr. Guha writes, saying the media is also guilty of keeping mum about the potentially devastating long-term side effects of economic growth.
“A sustainable path of economic development… depends crucially on a far-seeing state as well as a vigilant media. Tragically, India currently has neither,” he adds.
Rather than pursue its superpower ambitions, India first needs to tackle these pressing domestic issues. This is Mr. Guha’s main argument.
But his assessment, like that of other authors in the report, rests on debatable assumptions. Above all: What makes a superpower?
For Mr. Guha, for instance, the failure of the Indian government to handle the Naxalite insurgency and to provide better opportunities to the millions of tribal people who are drawn to it is central to his argument that India cannot claim to be a superpower.
But while it’s undeniable that the Naxalite threat and its social ramifications are a major issue, how much does this really have to do with becoming a superpower?
There’s a bigger question still: Why does it even matter to claim superpower status? Some may argue that treating it as a label can be misleading, as it may encourage a false, and dangerous, sense of entitlement.
Readers, do you think India can or should claim superpower status? Share your views in the Comments section.
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