WgCdr Mahesh Chander Sudan (Retd)
We, the people of India, know that India is the fifth largest economy of the world as per the size of her Gross Domestic Product and that our economy overtook UK to gain fifth position in the world as per latest survey. It is also being noted through media that our economy may attain third position in near future as claimed by ruling political party including our PM during public interaction programs at various occasions. It is quite surprising to note that in another analysis carried by Forbes India, a magazine that covers personal finance, lifestyle, technology and stock markets, published a list of ten powerful countries in the world for year 2023 on 03 Aug 2023. The fifth largest economy of the world and largest democracy of the world could not find a place in top ten countries of the world that surprised me like any other Indian. Curiosity compelled me to study the analysis in detail to find out as to what constrained India to find her place in top ten countries despite the fact that it occupies fifth place in the world economies and holds the position of largest democracy of the world. This analysis provides a detailed examination of their global standing and influence.
This power ranking analysis is carried out by US News based on “Equally Weighted average of Scores” from five particular attributes that possibly denote a country’s power, these attributes are :-
(a) A Leader
(b) Economical Influence
(c) Political Influence
(d) Strong International Alliances
(e) Strong Military Power
The ranking model was devised by a group of global marketing communications company WPP and the researchers involved were led by Prof. David Reibstein from Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and the top ten powerful countries listed in their analysis are USA, China, Russia, Germany, United Kingdom, South Korea, France, Japan, UAE and Israel.
The power in the global reference is multifaceted, it encompasses political influence, economic resources and military might. Besides, power indicates multiple aspects, including economic and political influence, strength in international alliance and impactful military power. While carrying out the deeper insight into the top 10 powerful countries in the world as of August 2023, it emerges that the most powerful country in world is United State of America, who is also known as world powerhouse and continues to lead the world in various sectors such as technology, finance and entertainment. The present leader of the country, Mr. Biden, is focusing on infrastructure development and climate change initiatives besides maintaining strong economic position across the globe. Its GDP size is $23 trillion with per capita GDP, PPP $69288.
The second position is occupied by China whose GDP size is around $17.7 trillion with moderate per capita GDP as $19,338.As regards other parameters, the belt and road initiative is growing in scope, with more and more countries joining the project. This initiative aims to boost economic development and trade by connecting Asia with Africa and Europe through land and sea routes and makes significant strides in Artificial Intelligence and 5G as a global tech leader. Russia stands at third position with significant role in global geopolitics, leveraging its vast natural resources and military capabilities. Contribution of Russia in the field of space exploration particularly of moon and other celestial bodies with launch of missions like Vanera-D Venus lander in the coming years is also noticeable and contributory towards our understanding of the Universe. The per capita GDP of the country is PPP: $ 32,803.
The fourth top powerful country of the world in year 2023 is Germany who leads European Union’s green energy initiative, transiting to renewable energy sources with reduced carbon emission and digital transformation. It enjoys healthy per capita GDP PPP:$ 57,928 and GDP of $ 4.22 trillion. United Kingdom is the fifth powerful country whose focus on post-Brexit trade deals and negotiations helped the country to establish new partnerships. Another outstanding area is their startups that provide innovative solutions to various fields contributing towards economic growth of the country. The GDP per capita is PPP $ 49,675 with $3.19 trillion GDP of the country.
South Korea occupies next slot in the tally of ten powerful countries as published by Forbes India and the country continues to be the global leader in technology and innovations with focus on renewable energy sources to promote green energy initiatives. Seventh place is occupied by France who is focusing on digital transformation and green energy initiatives to contribute to the economic and political stability of the European Union bloc. Japan holds eighth place in the list of top ten powerful countries in the world during year 2023 as per Forbes India, the area of focus to strength its economy adopted by the country is robotic industry involved in innovative solutions and advanced technology to remain global tech leader in the field of robotics.
United Arab Emirates holds the ninth position and is involved with full focus on its space program and plans to send a mission to the moon for exploring lunar surface for contributing towards our understanding of the moon. The UAE is also a significant player in the global oil industry, contributing to its strong place in the global economy. The tenth position in this category of world powerful countries is occupied by Israel, a home to many leading tech companies who are involved in innovative solutions in various fields and remains front runner in technology and innovations on global scale.
As regards India, she holds fourteenth position in the list of powerful countries in the world for year 2023 as per Forbes India. No doubt, this ranking is based on various factors based on five attributes highlighted above and the detailed analysis of the achievements of top ten countries clearly indicates that India needs to walk few more miles to find her place in most powerful countries in the world in future. It clearly emerges that the first of the five attributes denoting power of a country plays pivotal role in aligning economic and political influence, international alliances and strong military power. Effective leadership would drive economic growth, build strong international relations, and enhance military capabilities. It is quite conclusive that India needs strong leadership that has global respect and acceptance to elevate our international standing and power besides well-established cordiality amongst contemporary national leaders especially in case of largest democracy of the world. Jai Hind, Jai Bharat.
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