Modi’s mistake is in trying to turn the Indian economy into a Chinese dragon
As India watches the Chinese economy pulls farther ahead of its own, it must realise a growth model built on a one-party system is a poor fit for India’s diverse democracy. Policies formulated in the comfort of government offices cannot be pushed through with brute force
At the beginning of this millennium, experts and analysts had written reams about how the balance of power and trade was shifting from the West to the East. China and India were seen as propelling this, and the two countries were spoken in the same breath as future powerhouses that will be pivotal in a new economic order.
By then, China had firmly established itself as the factory of the world, whereas India was moving up as a provider of back-end services as multinationals outsourced their administrative and software management to the country. Two decades down the line, China continues to strengthen its position, while India is struggling to keep its economy moving forward and has almost dropped out of contention as a future economic powerhouse.
The last time the Indian economy recorded a healthy growth of around 8 per cent was in 2016. It has since been sliding down.