10 reasons why India will not become a superpower

10 reasons why India will not become a superpower

'Will India become a superpower?' This is a question that nags every Indian. With the nature of problems that plague India, the chances of the country becoming a superpower are remote.

"India needs to be, not a powerful or dominant country, but a country which is less discontented from within", says Ramachadra Guha writer, historian and biographer who spoke on the topic 'Ten Reasons Why India Will Not and Should Not Become a Superpower' in a meeting organised by Aspen Institute India in New Delhi.

Guha pointed out that in 1948, there was a mood of despair and gloom about India's prospects, the government was seen as the only agent that could bring about change.
Image: A copy of a newspaper showing photographs of PM Singh burnt by the BJP activists in Mumbai.
Photographs: Punit Paranjpe/Reuters

10 reasons why India will not become a superpower

Today, however, there is a sense of optimism about India's prospects, although the government is seen as the major impediment in the country's progress.

Tarun Das, president, Aspen Institute India, said India needed more debates such as this to provide a more balanced view of the country's growth and development.

Of the 10 reasons he listed, Guha suggested that environmental degradation is likely to remain the most pressing challenge facing India. Primary education also remains a significant challenge that needs to be overcome.

He went on to elucidate the ten points that he thought would objectively prevent India from becoming a superpower:


Image: Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, Chinese President Hu Jintao and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh pose for a photo at the BRIC summit in Yekaterinburg
Photographs: Sergei Karpukhin/Reuters

10 reasons why India will not become a superpower

1.Religious extremism: Long term trends indicate that liberals and moderates in every religious community in India are on the defensive.

2. Left wing extremism: Extremism in the form of the Naxalite movement, which is a result of geographical reasons and also social and political forces, owing to the continued dispossession and deprivation of tribal people in India.
Image: Women naxalites wait before their performance during a protest rally.
Photographs: Jayanta Shaw/Reuters

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