Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan and South Korea are the ‘Asian Tigers’ who have risen from being poor and undeveloped to highly developed. They first became self-sufficient in trade and then upskilled to become market leaders in various industries. What’s more, their indigenously developed technologies became famous worldwide through their local MNCs.
Until the 1980s, China and India were at similar levels economically. Since then, China’s economy has expanded multifold to become five times at what India is currently. How did China leave us behind? Experts say that India’s problem is ‘too much’ democracy and bureaucracy. Up until the economic reforms of 1991, the world was considering India as a ‘protectionist’ economy.
The world now considers China a superpower rivalling the US. In fact, now people are using the term ‘Cold war’ to describe the US rivalry with China.
With its economic and geopolitical dominance, China is now on an expansionist mode, making fresh and repeated territorial claims against almost all of its neighbours. In fact, China is more of a threat to India than Pakistan, both of whom have come together for their mutual dislike for India.
India, for its part, is slowly but surely trying to play catch up with China and the other Asian Tiger economies. It needs to grow at a consistent rate of 8-10% each year while developing its own technology for various uses.
Though India is taking steps in the right direction, more needs to be done. We need to reform our economy and construct crucial infrastructure to be competitive in the international markets. We need to encourage Research and Development in indigenous technologies and prepare our companies to become true MNCs. To check the unprovoked aggression of China, we need to rise up and give a befitting response to protect our self-interest.