Is India the Next SuperEconomy?
MUMBAI July 8, 2015 - The Asia Society India Centre in partnership with Random House India welcomed Raghav Bahl, Founder, Quintillion Media and author of 'SuperEconomies: America, India, China and the Future of the World'. Bahl was joined in conversation by Adil Zainulbhai, Senior Advisor, McKinsey India and Indrani Bagchi, Diplomatic Editor, The Times of India. The discussion explored Bahl's vision for the future of the world and India's prospects as an emerging super economy.
The evening began with remarks by Raghav Bahl who spoke about his book and his quest to explore the newly conceptualized super economic power structure. Bahl said his last work comparing India and China would be left incomplete without bringing America into consideration. Reflective of this, he chose America, India and China as prospective SuperEconomies of the future as he believes that the trio possess all the basic attributes to be recognized as a SuperEconomy. Such as a sizeable land mass; youthful demographic; skilled and industrious workforce with low unemployment rates; rapid infrastructure growth; a strong currency; robust military with nuclear capabilities; and appreciation for the value of its soft power to win influence globally.
Bahl asserted that whether we like it or not time will bring India and the United States together. Though he says it with all confidence he was well conscious to clarify that India and America will be "close allies but not clones", highlighting that the alliance will be cemented purely based on common interest.
The evening's discussion began with Adil Zainulbhai's take on Bahl's vision. Though Zainulbhai was happy that India is one of Bahl's handpicked choices of SuperEconomies, he expressed that he wants India's priority to strictly focus on improving the lives of millions of its population and he warns that India cannot afford to deviate its priority by chasing any of the "Super" tags. Zainulbhai highlighted that manufacturing; education; health care; bringing quality life style and building advanced infrastructure are the key areas where India needs to work hard to match the other developed economies. Keeping the Indian diaspora in good humor is necessary and an easy way to exercise India's soft power and bring huge inflow of foreign investment, said Zainulbhai. According to him India's progress is at a learning curve, he quoted President Pranab Mukherjee, and said that there will be many ups and downs, India needs to learn from its past mistakes and work towards progress. Indrani Bagchi contributed the discussion by sharing her expertise in the field of Diplomacy. With her unique insights as a journalist adding much flavor to the discussion.
On the question of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's one year of performance Bahl said, it's too early to comment but noted that "it all begins at beginning". According to a hopeful Bahl, Mr. Modi is not a free market liberal like many think, he believes in improving the quality of the public sector while encouraging the private sector.
Bahl's book attracted applause and the evening delivered a constructive and engaging discussion.
Video: Watch the programme highlights (9 min., 47 sec.)
Reported by Arun C. Natraj, Intern, Asia Society India Centre
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