India in the Emerging World Order
Tremendous changes have overtaken India and the rest of the world in the course of the last 60 years since its independence. Everyone knows that in the global village that the world has become today, nobody and no nation can afford to stay in splendid isolation. At the dawn of independence, we had the supreme privilege of inheriting a legacy which many other nations that became independent around this time did not have. Our able leaders with foresight, high ideas, and spirit of tolerance steered India to the vanguard of nations that have achieved a high degree of solidarity, making this country a power to reckon with in the world affairs.
As we look back from the Congress-led LTPA coalition regime, which came to power following the defeat of BJP-led coalition in the General Election 2004, to the beginning of Nehru Era, we can indeed feel pride for the strength which we contain within both on the domestic and the international front. Unless a nation is strong enough internally, it cannot win the recognition and a sense of respect from other countries. In more than half a century democracy has taken deep roots right from Panchayat at grassroots level to the level of Parliament at the top. We have perhaps the largest electorate in the world and we have been fine-tuning the election process in one election after another in order to bring about an amount of transparency and great fairness. Elections in India have become a model for many of the developing countries in Asia and Africa. The whole world has recognized the superiority of Indian democracy. At a time when there was inordinate delay in the declaration of results in the case of American Presidency just few years ago, the columnists in the USA quoted the Indian system of Presidential elections as an example.
Can anyone imagine the highly plural nature of Indian society where one finds people of different races, religions and languages. Sixty years on, Indian democracy has become an article of faith in the country in contrast to many other countries going under dictatorships or military leadership. We know what is happening in Pakistan, Myanmar and what has happened in Bangladesh. We have seen the fate of democracy in most of the African countries too.
Indian freedom struggle, through the non-violent way, has caught the attention of great leaders across the world. Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of India, had a basic grounding on world affairs and by virtue of it, he played a crucial role to evolve the concept of Non-alignment, which became powerful force in world affairs. India’s unique and positive strength helped in finding out the solution to the Korean war, the Suez Canal Crisis and other major international disputes. India always played a valuable role in the world politics particularly right from Nehru Era till Indira Gandhi’s regime.
With the collapse of the Soviet Union, the concept of balance of power was gone forever. On the demise of the USSR and the emergence of Russia and other States, the USA remained unilateral power and started handling world affairs in the capacity of super power. It was around this time that India understood about the new alignments and new thrust in international trade. India launched economic liberalization. Gone were the days of State control and permit or licence. India’s policy of liberalization; globalization and privatization brought tremendous economic development. It emerged with sound economy during the regime of Mr. Narsimha Rao and his able lieutenant Dr. Manmohan Singh.
As Mr. Atal Bihari Vajpayee and his brilliant team assumed power towards the end of the last Millennium, India started asserting itself in world’s political and economic affairs by dint of its tremendous achievements in the world of technology. India became an economic power in its own right and technological marvel. Brilliant youngsters from Institutes of Technology and Institute of Management came to occupy key positions in different parts of the world. It was a matter of pride to learn that almost 40 per cent of the software professionals around the world were Indians.
Moreover, for the first time in the tricky trade negotiations, India sought to represent the voice of the third world blocking the efforts of rich countries to formulate a trade regime that suited the interest of the western countries at the cost of billions of poor living in Asia, Africa and Oceania. In fact, India was fully backed in this venture by great countries like China, Brazil and South Africa.
India is now becoming a powerful economic force in the emerging world order. It has already setup a task force on infrastructure, information technology, tourism and other fields. The first phase of Metro Rail Service for mass transit has already been completed in Delhi. Cities like Bangalore, Hyderabad, Mumbai and Ahmadabad will soon have Metros comparable to the best of the world. India is leading in the field of science and technology. It has succeeded in launching numerous satellites one after another. All the satellites have their special use and importance.
In the unipolar world, the concept of non-alignment has become redundant. No country wants to run the risk of taking any step that would appear to antagonize the USA. Under these circumstances powerful countries, like China, Russia, France and Germany are looking for India’s support in their dealings with the sole superpower on the critical issues. India’s stand for disapproving the idea of invasion of Iraq and its categorical statements for sending the troops under UN was backed even by China, Russia, most of the Muslim countries and others who were opposing the war on Iraq.
India and China are already accelerating topmost global competition, shaking the foundations of the world economy. Lauding India’s economic progress, the world is of the view that India is the most potential country and has the capacity to move into the superpower league. This confidence stemmed from the progress made by the country in science, technology including information techno-logy, trade and commerce. It has the vast talent pool of its skilled manpower which is capable of playing a crucial role for the growing the economy. There is no doubt that India is marching very fast by becoming a powerful economic force in the emerging world order.
