India’s future

Here’s an excerpt from an article, India’s future, from the Economist Intelligence Unit ViewsWire dated 29 September 2008, which ought to give us, every Indian, something to think about (that is, if we aren’t thinking about it already):

“How will the rest of the world react? As India acquires the means to shape the global economic and geopolitical landscape, its leaders will face a familiar dilemma. Like rising powers in the past, India is keen to expand its influence in line with its increasingly global interests — but it needs to do this without provoking a backlash from currently dominant countries or being caught up in rivalry with other emerging powers.

How India manages its rise — and how the rest of the world responds — will have huge implications for the country’s stability and growth prospects. One potential obstacle is geopolitical: India needs to promote regional peace and stability in order to have a strong claim to be a major world player. But South Asia is an especially tough neighbourhood. India shares borders with countries that are embroiled in civil war (Sri Lanka), have just emerged from civil war (Nepal), or are under military or military-backed rule (Myanmar and Bangladesh). Civilian rule has recently been restored in Pakistan, but the political scene there remains fragile and a destabilising Islamist insurgency is gathering steam. This leaves China as India’s least volatile neighbour — but China, which is helping to build ports and quasi-military facilities in Pakistan, Myanmar and Bangladesh, is also India’s chief geopolitical rival.”

The entire EIU ViewsWire article, India’s future, can be found here.