It is easy these days to walk into a bookstore and pick up any number of books on India. The same level of interest is evident in newspapers and current affairs magazines as well. Why this heightened attention, and why now? A good answer can be found in Daniel Lak’s India Express: The Future of a New Superpower. Lak begins with this initial observation: “That India is a giant is indisputable. That its growth to global influence will be of vast benefit to all is a point that needs to be proven.”
The intersection of India’s economic ascent and its geo-strategic relevance makes India a compelling country to study. Interestingly, India has eschewed other recent examples of ascent in the Asian hemisphere such as South Korea, Taiwan and now China, where economic liberalization preceded political liberalization. India, on the other hand, has been a democracy since its independence from the British in 1947 and, after four and half decades of mixed economy policies...
Kasi V.P. Rao is a consultant who provides strategic guidance to public and private sector organizations on higher education, government relations, corporate relations and policy issues, with a particular focus on India.
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