Maybe hard to digest and believe right now for most, but a US report has listed India as the 3rd most powerful nation after US and China, and fourth most powerful bloc if you consider the EU. Yes, we have our problems, corruption - never better demonstrated so publicly than with the on-going CWG mess, poverty, and terrorism, and yes, we may still not really be 3rd most powerful, but one cannot deny the huge strides this country has made in the last decade or so. We have a very strong and capable army that stays completely out of politics, a very robust democracy that is the envy of the world, free press and pretty much impartial judiciary, a very vibrant economy that has withered the latest storms with flying colors, led by a strong industry and a pretty capable and effective government.
Here's raising a toast to the India story, and hoping this country will soon rid itself of its last remaining problems!
1 comment:
You know some problems are here to stay.. For instance given our huge population, coupled with our high illiteracy rate, problems like corruption and bureaucracy will probably be around for a long time.However, at the same time I dont think that other countries out there are devoid of these problems either. What works most in our favor is the fact that we are a young country and that has helped us grow at a very fast rate in the last couple of years. In the coming years though, our biggest challenge will be to sustain this growth and to continue to grow at the same rate or at a faster rate. To that end I worry a little bit when I think about the state of the rural areas in our country. I believe that it is easy for us who live in cities to believe that India is Shining. But a majority of our people who live in the rural areas have a long way to go. In addition, I think that our country needs a lot more entrepreneurs and we need to invest a lot more on research and innovation and focus towards becoming a more self reliant nation. To some extent I think that we may be getting overly dependent on outsourcing - BPOs and IT companies form one third of the services sector which contributes to 55% of our GDP.
However, all said and done, I dont deny that we are a strong nation and that we have done very well even though the global economic weather has been disheartening. I just hope that we continue to stay focused as a nation and continue to strive towards getting better.
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