We need to sprint to get across the steep hill ahead
India needs to tread cautiously. The enemy is now firmly under the influence of China, with whom we have a long-standing border dispute.
It was 12 May 1947. Clement Atlee, the newly elected prime minister of the United Kingdom then, was meeting with military commanders at his official residence, 10 Downing Street. WW-II hero Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery and some policy experts were also at the meeting, convened to discuss India’s independence and its eventual partition.
These men believed India as a nation had socialistic impulses and, if given independence in an undivided form, could be influenced by communism, which they saw as a mortal threat to British colonialism. So they decided to create a “buffer state" between the Soviet Union and India that would do their bidding in the region. On 14 August 1947, Pakistan was given independence and turned into a Western puppet. India was given independence on 15 August 947 but chose the path of non-alignment.
Today, 78 years later, the generals responsible for the partition of India stand defeated.
Pakistan has wriggled free of the Western chokehold and is firmly in the grip of China. The Soviet Union is history, but its remnant, Russia, with the biggest nuclear stockpile in the world, is now Beijing’s friend. Another undeclared nuclear power, North Korea, is already part of this axis. The world looks at the quartet with great concern. US President Donald Trump has done his bit to aggravate the global unease. His “tariff war" tantrums have blurred the line between friends and foes. The dark days of the Cold War look sane compared with the present situation.
In the age of changing equations and global “reset", how should we position ourselves?
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We can’t remain smug that Pakistan, earlier a pawn of the West and now China’s poker chip is digging another grave for itself. Superpowers are solely concerned about their interests. The father of modern US foreign policy, Henry Kissinger, once said, “To be an enemy of the US is dangerous, but to be a friend is fatal."
India needs to tread cautiously. The enemy is now firmly under the influence of China, with whom we have a long-standing border dispute. Russia, too, is toeing Beijing’s line. Europe is in a crisis. It leaves us with just the US, whose “friendship is fatal".
The road ahead is difficult. But India is now set to become the fourth-largest economy in the world in FY26. We have done wonders through coordination and self-reliance. We have the biggest pool of graduates in the world, and we have the largest young population. Hundreds of Indian graduates from IITs, IIMs, and AIIMS are making their mark globally. This is the time when, instead of being exporters of trained manpower, we should emerge as net importers of global talent.
Data from Google testifies that since Trump’s policies came into force, there has been a 25% drop in searches for US universities. Today, out of the 10 best educational institutions, 9 are in China. We will have to improve our education and update our internal infrastructure so that we can attract talented students from developing countries. China is trying to do the same, but our social setup will be far more effective and attractive for global citizens. Luckily, we have a higher education infrastructure that we need to update to match emerging needs.
We would need a second “Green Revolution" to become one of the three top producers of grain. We should remember that the world stood behind Ukraine after it was attacked because it is the world’s largest exporter of foodgrain.
As far as military hardware is concerned, the weapon traders are politics-agnostic. They’ll remain available, though that’s not adequate. We need to expedite our military hardware production. Indigenous missiles proved their effectiveness in the recent clashes with Pakistan. It also brought the limitations of Western aeroplanes and equipment to the fore.
We need to become an exporter rather than an importer of military hardware. We have made a beginning, but it’s not enough. We shouldn’t work on a war footing only when we are faced with a war. To create a great nation, we should remain alert against any slack and legacy mindset during peacetime.
China did the same and is now itching to reach the top. Pakistan took a completely different path, and the results are evident. Treading a middle path, we have achieved a lot, but it’s time to sprint towards a steep hill. For this, we’ll have to marshal all our resources and willpower.
Shashi Shekhar is editor-in-chief, Hindustan. Views are personal.
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