Prof A N Sadhu
The world is not at peace with itself. There is strife at global level on several counts. The war hysteria is prevalent in several parts of the world and in few cases, the countries are at war with each other. The Russia-Ukraine war is on; for a long time now and so is the case with Israel and its neighbouring countries. So much loss of human lives and properties. There is economic slowdown across the globe. The world is witnessing terrorism and expansionist designs. There is an epidemic of intolerance and bankruptcy of ideas towards establishment of cohesion, understanding, and mutual co-existence in a smooth environment. Market rivalries bring in conflict the mighty countries of the world, particularly those, passing through economic slow down. National disasters are rampant because of environmental degradation, particularly among the countries, following ambitions development plans to catch up with the developed countries of the world. This year’s rains in the country and some other countries of the world have wrecked havoc on a very large scale. In some of the democratic countries, the emergence of autocratic tendencies among the rulers have tended to destabilize the systems to create unrest among the people. The recent happenings in Bangladesh is a fallout of such tendencies. The world leadership seems to be suffering from impoverishment of statesmanship which is certainly not in the interests of the posterity.
India in the worldscape.
In the relatively turbulent world, India has remained visibly peaceful and has successfully avoided the economic and political shocks. The covid-management of the country is a successfull story which has helped in maintaining the smooth growth- graph, with only small stress, here and there. The country earned goodwill on the international scale by sharing its knowledge and also the medicines, with the world countries. The country has successfully traded its credentials of peace, tolerance and inherent strengths of its history and culture. There is recognition across the globe, of the richness of Indian culture based on its philosophy of “Sarve Bawantu Sukhena” and the concept of “Vasudeva Kutumbkamm”.
India’s foreign policy is clear, and objective. It is blend of strength to safeguard the national interests and a mission to spread the manage of peace and goodwill across the nations of the world. While serving the humanitarian cause, the country has always adopted the friendly approach, whatever the status of bilateral or multi lateral relations. There should be realization across the globe of India being a peace loving country. India’s role in the global meets has been inclusive rather than exclusive seeking to address the global concerns such as terrorism, climate change and distributive justice of economic gains. India did move forward as a goodwill nation working towards peace and prosperity of the human society of the world as a whole.
The construction of a Grand Temple in UAE, the goodwill handling of the release of India citizens in Qtar, cordial relations with Saudhi Arabia and purposeful role at international fora is manifestation of well intentioned and successful foreign policy of India.
The Nation’s keenness to have friendly relations with neighbouring countries, its urge to play mediatory roles in international conflicts and its constructive cooperation and participation in establishing peace and harmony are testimony of India’s emergence as a goodwill nation.
In comparison to world countries, India has successfully maintained its (a) growth graph (b) controlled Deficit finance and reasonably managed to control the use of prices, (c) drawn its economic plans to reach the status of third largest economy of the world, (d) to prepare a roadmap for reaching the status of developed country by 2047, (e) to maintain political stability and (f) to attain the stature of Global leadership. Indian economy is resilient and capable of maintaining a steady movement forward. By reasonable standards, the world’s largest democracy has remained politically stable and is poised for reaching the developed status in a couple of decades time. Maintaining a smooth graph of economic and political stability should give a greater space to the country in the management of its international affairs and gradually attain the global leadership role and contribute to lasting peace and harmony in the world. However India is a vast country with a highly heterogeneous character of language, culture and agro climatic conditions and it warrants continuous effort to bring about balanced development on economic front and to maintain social harmony across the country.
Not withstanding the analysis carried out in the previous columns, there are problems that need the required attention. The Government should give immediate attention to the unrest among the youth owing to inadequate job opportunities and insufficient assistance for alternative bread-earning avenues. Any country is faced with a possibility of political instability if its youth is under stress. Digitalization, automation and capital intensive strategies are good but only with a strategy of creating opportunities for involvement of youth in changing mode of production. The provision for an educational policy which aims at developing skills, innovations and creative ideas and entrepreneurial capabilities is need of the hour. Immediately a good thought requires to be given to distributive justice of economic gains. A blend of accelerated growth and an equitable distribution of its gains to different sections of the society is essential. Giving concessions and subsidies are only short term measures; instead investment must be made in making human stock productive and creative. The inflation should remain under control and attention needs to be given to reduce income inequalities. A stable political order needs an equitable social order and that is why development economists lay stress on growth with equity. Equity-Social, economic and political.
The world has shrunk into a global village. The revolution in communication technology and electronic media has opened the frontiers of the countries both neighbouring and distant. No country of the world can live in isolation. What happens in the neighbourhood or in distant countries does influence the home country in a small or big measure. The sweeping winds can raise the dust and effect the political and economic health of nations.India,while forging ahead in the world rankings will have to guard against the pitfalls so as to maintain the rhyme and rhythm of its march forward.
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