Much has been written about India’s emerging status as arising power, a fast-growing economy and its huge market. Much has also beenwritten about the stark realities of poor economic conditions of those at thebottom of the social ladder, the rural-urban divide, malnutrition, economicinequality and corruption in politics and even everyday life. Yet, one may ask:what is that makes “ or takes away from “ India becoming a super power and whatdoes it really mean to be a super power in world politics today?
Interestingly, as India continues to consolidate its currentstatus of an emerging power, thus moving from the category of a third-worldcountry to a developing economy, its definition of what it means to be a superpower has remained static focusing on economic factors (growing GDP) andpolitical conditions (active democracy), though I would argue that even basedon these two India has a long way to go to become a real super power.
India has also been engaged in active nuclear diplomacy toattain the status of being a ‘responsible nuclear state with advanced nucleartechnology’ as former US president George Bush and PM Manmohan Singh stated ina joint statement in 2005 prior to the 123 agreement for civil nuclearcooperation. Apart from this, the focus has also been on building India’s brandvalue as a ‘soft power’. Indeed, Bollywood, art, culture, yoga and other suchfactors have played an important role in enhancing India’s soft power, but thequestion remains: Is soft power alone enough to attain the status of being asuper power?
Any kind of power also requires the ability to influence andthat in turn requires a voice that is heard. Is India able to influence worldpolitics and, importantly, does India have an opinion on importantinternational issues? Having an opinion alone is not enough, it is important toexpress that opinion to the world without hesitation. While India has alwaysfollowed a non-aligned policy, in today’s world politics that becomes more ofan excuse to not say anything. As a global power, India will need to voice itsopinion on international issues other than those that relate to it alone.
Indeed, it is time to combine the Yoga regime with somePilates as India moves closer to 2013 and our leadership itself must reassessand understand its foreign policy goals before it is articulated to the rest ofthe world.
In association with Governance Now
