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Ahead of his first visit to the US as prime minister of the world’s largest democracy, Narendra Modi laid out a vision that was in equal parts ambitious and anodyne.
Writing in the Wall Street Journal, Modi hit the right notes while talking about the room for India’s development as well as the potential of its young population – popularly known as India’s ‘demographic dividend’ – in achieving it.
“A young nation with 800 million people under age 35, India is brimming with optimism and confidence,” he wrote. “The young people's energy, enthusiasm and enterprise are India's greatest strength. Unleashing those attributes is my government's biggest mission.”
But in what seems to be becoming his wont, there was plenty of rhetoric but hardly any details of how he plans to achieve any of his stated objectives, not even a broad brush exposition of the steps he wants to take to get to his vision.
While he maintained that “eliminating unnecessary laws and regulations, making bureaucratic processes easier and shorter, and ensuring that our government is more transparent, responsive and accountable” would be a cornerstone of his mission, there has been little to show for it on the ground. To be fair, he has asked all department heads to compile a list of antiquated laws that are out of place in the 21st century, but what has happened of the exercise is unknown.
He also wrote of creating world-class infrastructure that India “badly needs to accelerate growth and meet people's basic needs. We will make our cities and towns habitable, sustainable and smart; and we will make our villages the new engines of economic transformation”, but with no sign of how he will clear the byzantine town planning process that leaves most Indian towns and villages practically unfit for human habitation when compared to more mature economies.
Following up on his launch yesterday of Make in India, a programme to power India’s industry, the prime minister said he is looking to turn India into a new global manufacturing hub.
However, that is easier said than done. For example, India ranks abysmally low on the ease of doing business, ranking next to countries that are desperately poor or in the throes of civil war. China, on the other, has cemented its position as Factory to the World based on its export-oriented manufacturing policy, and is hardly likely to give that revenue pipeline up without a fight.
Ironically, and amusingly enough, the USB drives that the government handed out at the Make In India launch with details of the programme were all Made in China, products, the Mint newspaper reported Friday.
It may have been a bureaucratic fumble – after all, good fiscal habit demands a contract be given to the lowest bidder – but it also shows up how far India has to go before Modi can make good on his promise.
Even as he held out hope for business and industry, Modi also spoke of issues of social justice, an area that US Democrats will no doubt lap up. But again, the prime minister’s lofty objectives leave questions about how all this will be achieved. For example, he writes about eliminating homelessness entirely – “a roof over every head by 2022” – but assumes that he will be elected back to power for a second term (his current one runs through 2019).
“In addressing these daunting challenges, I draw confidence from countless extraordinary stories of ordinary Indians that I have seen through decades of travel across India,” he writes. While that is a good sign, confidence is not going to replace actual execution, a fact he runs the risk of finding out to his detriment.
He also reverted to his favourite trope of how technology can “transform governance, empower people, provide affordable solutions for societal challenges and reach people in ways that were unimaginable not so long ago”. From admiring storage capacity and miniaturisation, he makes a leap of faith to its use in the energy sector.
“I am confident that this can be replicated in renewable energy,” he wrote. “With solar and wind power, thousands of Indian villages will be able to get access quickly to reliable, affordable and clean energy, without waiting for large, faraway conventional power plants to be built.”
Modi has also been on a spree to mend relations with neighbours as well as major trading partners – Japan, China and now the US – and his US visit, while not expected to deliver too many tangible business decisions, is being seen as an opportunity to revive a friendship that has sagged through the Obama administration.
“India will pursue its dreams in partnership with our international friends,” Modi wrote, adding that “The United States is our natural global partner. India and the U.S. embody the enduring and universal relevance of their shared values.”
But those values will need a lot of hard work – on the business as well as diplomatic sides – before any tangible results are to be had. Modi also held out that familiar bond of shared values -- “The partnership between our businesses takes place in the comfort and certainty of similar political systems and shared commitment to rule of law…. India and the U.S. have a fundamental stake in each other's success—for the sake of our values and our many shared interests.” – but struck a more humble note by saying that India looks to the US for inspiration in education, innovation, and science and technology.
He also hinted at a deeper strategic partnership with the US than has been seen since the Bush administration, saying “…it will be of great value in advancing peace, security and stability in the Asia and Pacific regions…”
Noting that both nations’ interests are aligned, the Indian prime minister pointed out that the two could “contribute to more concerted international efforts to meet the pressing global challenges of our times…” such as terrorism and extremism and cyber security.
Ending, as he likes to, with a flourish -- or a cliché -- Modi wrote: “This is a moment of flux in the global order. I am confident in the destiny of our two nations, because democracy is the greatest source of renewal and, with the right conditions, offers the best opportunity for the human spirit to flourish.”
