Oxford Debate: Is India Ready to Replace China as the Engine of Global Growth?
VIEW EVENT DETAILSWith Alicia García Herrero, Rohit Lamba, Rajat Kathuria, and Santosh Mehrotra

India is the world's fastest-growing emerging market, with a projected annual growth rate of 6 to 8 percent. Economic reforms, physical and digital infrastructure investments, and a young and still growing labor force position India well for cooperation with many countries that try to de-risk from China and diversify their supply chains. But manufacturing is not as labor intensive as it was when China's unprecedented growth started, and India's regulatory landscape and regional differences remain a challenge for foreign investment.
Can India follow in China's footsteps as the world's next economic giant? Will it be able to compete with China in manufacturing? Could a more services-driven economy be an alternative model for India? Are there areas of collaboration between the two countries that would help India to grow quickly and allow China to maintain a certain level of growth? And what will the return of U.S. President Trump mean for India's growth ambitions?
Join us for an Oxford Debate on the motion "India is ready to replace China as the engine of global growth", with Alicia García Herrero, Rohit Lamba, Rajat Kathuria, and Santosh Mehrotra. Nico Luchsinger, Executive Director at Asia Society Switzerland, will moderate the debate.
About Oxford Debates
The Oxford Debates at Asia Society Switzerland are a format to address 'big' questions that have no one answer or solution but are inviting many conflicting views. Four renowned experts in the field form teams of two, one team arguing for the motion, the other against it.
The Oxford-style format is broken down into four sections: opening remarks, rebuttals, a moderated question-and-answer session, and closing remarks. Before and after the debate the audience is polled whether they agree with the motion or not. The voting breakdown is not shared publicly until the end of the debate. The greater percentage change between the first and second votes determines the debate's winning team.
After the debate, there is a 15-minute debriefing during which the speakers reflect on the arguments and discussion.
Disclaimer: Positions presented in the debate do not necessarily represent the speakers' views
Motion: India is ready to replace China as the engine of global growth

Rohit Lamba is an economist. He is Assistant Professor of Economics at Cornell University. Before, he was a Visiting Assistant Professor at New York University Abu Dhabi and Assistant Professor of Economics at Penn State University. He received a PhD in economics from Princeton University and was a Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Cambridge. He publishes regularly in leading academic journals and newspapers. He has also worked as an economist at the office of the chief economic adviser to the Government of India. Together with Raghuram Rajan, he is co-author of the book Breaking the Mold: Reimagining India's Economic Future.