New Delhi: India can help shape the way the world order is put together in the wake of the wreckage that was left behind by the financial crisis, management guru C.K. Prahalad said on Sunday at the World Economic Forum’s India Economic Summit.

“Leadership is about hope and change,” said Prahalad, making the point that “aspirations must always exceed resources.”

Also See Mint’s coverage on the WEF India Summit

It was also imperative for policy makers to have an innovative streak, he told the audience. “Focus on next practice instead of best practice,” said Prahalad, professor of corporate strategy, University of Michigan.

“My first aspiration for India is to have its rightful role in bringing in a new world order,” Prahalad said.

Raghuram Rajan, professor of finance, University of Chicago Graduate School of Business, said India needs to ramp up its strategy as it joins the top table of nations.

“As we become more important on the global stage, we have to alter the way we engage with the world,” Rajan said at the same session. This would include not just “economic prowess, but also intellectual prowess.”

India will need to use its economic vitality, its technological skills and moral leadership, he said. The nation should use its strong points, such as its diversity, and its large pool of educated and talented people.

“We need to innovate, to address issues such as poverty, income inequality and corruption” to create a “development sandbox” with “scalability, rule of law, social equity and fairness in the development process,” Prahalad said.