Arun Shourie writes in the third and concluding part [1 2] of his series on the opportunities for the India:
On the one hand, we have unbounded opportunities and incomparable advantages to seize them. On the other, there is the fate that will surely befall us if we falter. Unemployment will reach such proportions that social unrest will become unmanageable. Similarly, if the rates of growth of India and China continue to differ by the margins of the past 15 years, within the next 15 years the
Chinese economy will be six times that of India. And the consequences will be worse than we can imagine.
we have many things working for us. In many ways, this is Indias moment, even vis a vis China. For the first time, observers have begun to voice questions in public about Chinaits statistics; the fact, for instance, as a German investor said recently at a conference I was deputed to attend, that, If you want your factory to come up quickly, go to China; if you want to make money, go to India. On the other side, everyones noticing Indians make a mark in every sphere: writers, scientists, doctors, IT, cricket, beauty pageants, chess…
So it is the moment for India. It is a moment. But, it is only a moment. What should we do to ensure we grasp it?
A dramatic event happened yesterday in hockey in India’s first match in the Champions Trophy in Amsterdam. India led 3-0 with six minutes of play left, and ended up on the losing side as the Dutchmen scored 4 goals in the final minutes. I hope that is not a reflection of the New India – snatching defeat from the jaws of victory has been an old Indian habit. The New India has to power home its advantage. Today, we have the world looking at us. Can we capitalise on this and become as Vajpayee says in the ads “a developed nation by 2020?”
