India and China
15 years ago the world was watching two countries and genuinely could not decide which one would lead the future.
One of them does now. The other has spent the last decade and a half fighting over whose god is bigger.
I am writing this as a common citizen who grew up in this country, who continues to believe in what it is capable of, and who finds it genuinely dificult to explain the drastic economic downturn in these past years through poor governance alone.
India in 2011 was a country that had grown at consistently high rates for two decades, had a young demographic profile, and was positioned as a genuine superpower in the making.
We were leading the IT revolution at a time when the world had just figured out that technology was the new currency of power. An Indian spotted abroad was asked one common question: "Do you work in IT?"
It wasn't a stereotype so much as a signal. The world had noticed. It had clocked which direction we were moving in, and it had started to take us seriously. We weren't just a large country anymore. We were a country with momentum. And momentum, in geopolitics, is the most threatening thing of all.
And then there was the one thing that makes powerful nations genuinely nervous. India is an independent nuclear power. Not a dependent state. Not a country whose arsenal exists because someone else permitted it. Ours. On our terms. Answering to nobody.
A large, young, fast-growing, technologically ambitious, independently nuclear nation with a democratic mandate and a civilisational confidence. That is not a country you want going fully unchecked.
Putting on my tin foil hat, here is the thought I cannot entirely shake: that what has happened to India over the last many years is not simply the consequence of bad governance, corruption, or misfortune. (That of course, is a very real issue laughing in our faces every single day)
That some portion of it has been engineered, or at minimum exploited, by actors with a strategic interest in ensuring that India never becomes what it was projected to become.
There are powers that have done this before. They don't need to invade a country. They just need to find a wound in it and not let it heal - through tools of debt, dependency, tariffs, and narratives shaped by controlled media or manipulated social media algorithms. And then stay out of the way while it consumes itself.
"Just keep the wound open", as they say.
Mismanagement of a population's growth trajectory, and its basic needs which is this consistent and directional, feels almost scripted.
Let me also say - the fractures in Indian society are not new. Religious tension, caste hierarchy, linguistic division: these have existed for centuries. No government manufactured them from scratch.
A country whose population has been allowed to be preoccupied with questions of communal identity, whose minorities are economically anxious and politically marginalised, and whose civil society is increasingly reluctant to speak plainly, is a country whose productive capacity is diminished.
A nation fighting itself cannot look outward with coherence.
They couldn't tame the dragon. So they slowly fed the elephant poisoned food. Enough to keep it from breaking its own shackles. Enough for it to be grateful to be fed. The elephant didn't die. That was never the plan. A dead elephant attracts attention. It is still standing - tall above others, swaying, looking busy, occasionally making noise, hoping to get better, some day.
Someone needed only one new superpower to emerge. Not two. Someone did not want a second China.
And someone got exactly what they needed more
One of them does now. The other has spent the last decade and a half fighting over whose god is bigger.
I am writing this as a common citizen who grew up in this country, who continues to believe in what it is capable of, and who finds it genuinely dificult to explain the drastic economic downturn in these past years through poor governance alone.
India in 2011 was a country that had grown at consistently high rates for two decades, had a young demographic profile, and was positioned as a genuine superpower in the making.
We were leading the IT revolution at a time when the world had just figured out that technology was the new currency of power. An Indian spotted abroad was asked one common question: "Do you work in IT?"
It wasn't a stereotype so much as a signal. The world had noticed. It had clocked which direction we were moving in, and it had started to take us seriously. We weren't just a large country anymore. We were a country with momentum. And momentum, in geopolitics, is the most threatening thing of all.
And then there was the one thing that makes powerful nations genuinely nervous. India is an independent nuclear power. Not a dependent state. Not a country whose arsenal exists because someone else permitted it. Ours. On our terms. Answering to nobody.
A large, young, fast-growing, technologically ambitious, independently nuclear nation with a democratic mandate and a civilisational confidence. That is not a country you want going fully unchecked.
Putting on my tin foil hat, here is the thought I cannot entirely shake: that what has happened to India over the last many years is not simply the consequence of bad governance, corruption, or misfortune. (That of course, is a very real issue laughing in our faces every single day)
That some portion of it has been engineered, or at minimum exploited, by actors with a strategic interest in ensuring that India never becomes what it was projected to become.
There are powers that have done this before. They don't need to invade a country. They just need to find a wound in it and not let it heal - through tools of debt, dependency, tariffs, and narratives shaped by controlled media or manipulated social media algorithms. And then stay out of the way while it consumes itself.
"Just keep the wound open", as they say.
Mismanagement of a population's growth trajectory, and its basic needs which is this consistent and directional, feels almost scripted.
Let me also say - the fractures in Indian society are not new. Religious tension, caste hierarchy, linguistic division: these have existed for centuries. No government manufactured them from scratch.
A country whose population has been allowed to be preoccupied with questions of communal identity, whose minorities are economically anxious and politically marginalised, and whose civil society is increasingly reluctant to speak plainly, is a country whose productive capacity is diminished.
A nation fighting itself cannot look outward with coherence.
They couldn't tame the dragon. So they slowly fed the elephant poisoned food. Enough to keep it from breaking its own shackles. Enough for it to be grateful to be fed. The elephant didn't die. That was never the plan. A dead elephant attracts attention. It is still standing - tall above others, swaying, looking busy, occasionally making noise, hoping to get better, some day.
Someone needed only one new superpower to emerge. Not two. Someone did not want a second China.
And someone got exactly what they needed more
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if a person would have done the same in china i.e speak against the government the person would have been in jail . since 2014 there has been vested ineterests who have been working with government to dismantle the country since 2004 now they found themselves away from ruling party and thus a challenge of how to derail the country became a big task . They were in opposition now and had task s to be done which were easy when in government directly. So the game starts the elments destablising india became roiters protesters since 2014 not to mention oppositon leaders who were actively fudging figures to show economic growth suddenly could not do so they choose the globe to demean couuntry they once ruled to destroy now they had bigger tougher task to do it from outside. Helped by similar antisocial elements still active they carrying on till date . wont mention the coffers of ruling leaders were filled beyound the brim in their native and adopted coubtries during 2004-2014 these vested interest have a big task ahead and doing it with diligence as we all can see right here more
Jun 09
It's true, we have lost our way, and spent too much time on communal politics to the detriment of economy. Religious sloganeering has worked like magic on the sentimental population of India. Though it is true that minority appeasement was an issue, it can be argued that it had been corrected significantly in the first 5 years of the Modi govt. However, they never moved on from it and kept milking it in every election; and paid scant attention to the economy in the interim. more
Jun 07
It is very simple to explain why, China is a communist country and does not cater to its public. They will kill, imprison and remove any citizen that stands in the way of what "progress" they need to make per its leaders. They still have working sweatshops and work houses where most slave labor lives. Muslims are not a drain on its economy because they have them in encampments. The Chinese country side is not developed. What you see as a developed country is parts that Chinese CCP wants you to see and rest is hidden. It is ruthless regime period. ( It is per experts like Gordon Chan) India has major issues and hurdles like huge welfare burden. The money that should be used for progress is spent on handouts to people who do not produce anything. Red tape and over bloated government that eats up tax dollars and slows down progress. Corruption in government and private sector is a major problem. Banking and money is a major issue in India. For any project you need money and investment with ease of borrowing. In India banking regulations are hurting private businesses and slowing down any work. India has made foreign investment very difficult. China welcomed foreign investment and used it to make the major progress. Change it and see India thrive. more
Jun 07
China is already developed country. India is developing since last 10 years. It is not fair to compare. more
Jun 07
While comparing with China, we are missing the basic difference. India basically a democratic country where opposition and their minds set people always pull it down, find mistakes through magnifying glasses, shout for only rights without responsibilities. Just imagine the same in China, can we. Can any one spell a constructive suggestion from our opposition parties. Today A Chief Minister saying he will not allow central leaders in his state, if center did not but paddy etc., what he procured. Can we expect this kind of statements in China. If center acts like China administration, can we accept. Comparison shall be between equals only. more
Jun 07
