India’s March Towards Becoming A Global Power

When it comes to setting a higherbar in decision making, no one can match Prime Minister Narendra Modi. This was apparent when he said, his second government would begin a new journey to build ‘a new India with new energy’. The Prime Minister’s statement at the Central Hall of Parliament is in sync with the narrative he has set for building an India of everyone’s dream by 2022. This dream is not merely limited to providing quality health-care, education, housing, and other basic amenities to all Indians in the next three years, but also taking the country to great heightsin the global arena.

The Prime Minister coineda new slogan- NARA (National Ambition+Regional Aspirations). In broader terms, the slogan is also in consonance with India’s wish to become a developed nation in the near future. It is in tune with India’s roadmap for becoming a hub of innovation and scientific knowledge. It also adjusts with the country’s strategy to become a powerful voice in the world.

However, before it becomes a reality, India will have to expand the outreach of pro-people schemes like Ujwala, Ayushman Bharat and others. Together with these welfare programmes, India will have to further speed up the wheels of its economy so that it becomes a member of $5 trillion economic group in the next five years and the third largest economy in the world by 2030.This would mean India’s GDP touching $10 trillion, helped by consumption and investment growth. This appetite for growth is powered by an ambition to push India in the league of top nations of the world.

However, if expanding economic and investment bandwidth are one aspect of Prime Minister Modi’s dream of new India; making the country diplomatically, politically and strategically muscular is another aspect of India’s ambition. The Prime Minister has repeatedly said that the next five years will be very important in the history of the country, as was the period between 1942 and 1947. Significantly, this was the period when people from different walks of life, regions, and districts had come together to rid India of the British rule. In inference,it means, Indians need the same spirit to make India rid of its problems so that it could regain the rightful position in the world order. Right move and right intention to convert every people-centric programme into reality have to be given priority.

Similarly, right resonance has to be created at political and diplomatic forums across the world for India’s membership in the United Nations Security Council (UNSC). In this context, New Delhi’s call on members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), at its foreign ministers’ level meet at Bishkek, to support efforts for the comprehensive reform of the UN Security Council to make it more representative and effective assumes significance. For the past many years, India has been at the forefront in its call for the expansion of the UNSC. But one or two countriesare against any structural change of the present system of the veto-wielding body of the UN. Thus, the demand for UNSC expansion has not gained ground. However, given the rise in India’s economic profile and Prime Minister Modi’s personal chemistry with almost all global leaders, UNSC reforms have gained significant ground in the recent past.

As a responsible nation of the world, India is playing a key role on many fronts, including environmental issues. To ensure climate justice, New Delhi has agreed to head the International Solar Alliance (ISA) which aims towards exploitation of solar energy to reduce dependence on fossil fuels. The ‘new India’ ambition supports this agenda. India is being courted to play a bigger role in international affairs by many countries. However, India has prudently maintained its diplomatic profile by sticking to its mature position on a host of global issues. New Delhi’s vision of “VasudhaivaKutumbakam” (the world is one family) aptly describes its foreign policy objectives.

Script: Shankar Kumar, Senior Journalist