India is the most compelling story of the present era. We mustn’t squander this opportunity
The current geopolitical situation arising out of
the US-China trade war and our conflict with Pakistan can be leveraged to
India’s advantage. How we do so will decide the future of India.
The destination of Viksit Bharat is that we become a robust
economy with high per capita income, have strong defence and military
capabilities, and intense global engagements with world leaders and
international institutions that match our stature.
The current situation provides opportunities
for India in all three arenas: economic power, defence capabilities, and
global engagement. How we leverage them will decide the future of India.
Ultimately, it is the people, their perception, and will to achieve that matter.
The current geopolitical situation arising out
of the US-China trade war and our conflict with Pakistan can be leveraged to
India’s advantage. Domestically, our economic fundamentals like low inflation,
a fiscal consolidation glide path, good foreign exchange reserves, highest
foreign direct investment flows, infrastructure growth, digital public
infrastructure in place, booming capital markets, and revival of public sector
undertakings and banks, among other things, are helping build a robust Indian
economy.
India’s
new trade advantage
The trade tension between the US and China is benefiting India.
American buyers are looking toward Indian suppliers, improving India’s prospect
for better engagement with the world. We have free trade agreements (FTAs) with
Australia, the UAE, and have just concluded an expansive FTA with the United
Kingdom. An interim trade deal with the US is also imminent.
Our increasing economic and commercial engagement with the wider
world dramatically increases the market for Indian products. Reduction in
import duties will impart competitiveness for Indian manufacturers and boost
their overall productivity. India has already undertaken a number of structural
reforms, and a lot more are in the pipeline.
Though there will be resistance to reforms by vested interest
groups, and the success of government will be measured in how deftly it manages
to blunt political opposition to the reform agenda. Other countries in the
world are also trying to capture the opportunities arising from trade
disruptions. India will need to be extremely agile to be able to emerge as a
winner.
A message to Pakistan and the world
In the recent standoff with Pakistan, India has
demonstrated its intent as well as the ability to punish the purveyors of
terrorism. It has made it clear that no place in Pakistan is outside the reach
of Indian armed forces. We have been able to destroy Pakistan-sponsored core
terrorist group infrastructure, situated deep inside Pakistan, at nine places.
During Operation Sindoor, India destroyed and
destabilised Pakistani defences at places like Lahore, Karachi, and Rawalpindi.
India’s targeted strikes on eleven
major Pakistani airbases have decisively
shifted regional military dynamics. These pre-emptive attacks, carried out with
precision, have dismantled Pakistan’s ability to maintain any air superiority, and
any meaningful counter-response from these bases having critical function,
inflicting psychological and strategic damage to the Pakistani military
establishment.
The successful neutralising of Pakistan’s military aerial
intrusions, and our ability to defend Indian airspace, is also evident. At the
same time, India’s repeated declarations that our actions were non-escalatory
in nature gave Pakistan enough opportunity to off-ramp, ensuring global support
for our actions.
Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi ji said that terrorism and
talks, and terrorism and trade, cannot go together. He added that any future
talk with Pakistan will be on Pak-Occupied Kashmir (PoK) and state-sponsored
terrorism only. The emphatic statement that any terrorist action will be considered
an ‘act of war’, and keeping the Indus Water Treaty in abeyance, shows a clear
policy shift in our dealing with Pakistan.
An issue at hand is also how a regional conflict with an
adversary that is in a dire state—of unstable economy, multiple state actors
within the ruling establishment, and civic unrest from Baluchistan and Punjab
province uprisings—can impact us.
Even so, the world over, it is acknowledged that India is the
most compelling story of the present era, attracting huge global investments,
and we must not squander this opportunity.
Brand
India on the rise
Prime Minister Modi’s engagement with global leadership and at
international platforms has been exemplary. His interventions in the
Ukraine-Russia war, and the statement that “this is
not an era of war” to President Putin, have been very well appreciated across
the world. The success of the G20 has established ‘Brand India’. Our US
engagement shows the finesse of a mature diplomacy and a mutuality of
interests. India’s straight and frank talks with European nations about
preaching and practising democracy, or dealing with oil sanctions, come from clear
vision and inner strength. India now acts and talks like a global leader, and
as our economy grows bigger, our say in global affairs will increase even more.
The stage is set for India to assume strong leadership status at
the global level, but it needs to do a lot of work on many fronts domestically.
India has to grow its GDP at over 8 per cent per annum on a sustained basis,
something that has never been achieved in the country till now. Our tryst with
destiny, and opportune time is here; whether we the people of India, and our
politics, will rise to the occasion, only time will tell.
Gopal Krishna
Agarwal is the national spokesperson of the BJP. He tweets @gopalkagarwal.
Views are personal.
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