India a superpower? Unlikely: LSE study

The LSE study comprising essays by nine experts in the areas of India8217;s economy,defence,government,culture,environment and society advises 8220;caution in assessing India8217;s claim to superpower status8221;.

Ramachandra Guha,currently the Philippe Roman Chair in History and International Affairs at the LSE,argues that it is doubtful whether India should seek to become a superpower.

He cites seven reasons why India will not become a superpower.

These are: 8220;The challenge of the Naxalites; the insidious presence of the Hindutvawadis; the degradation of the once liberal and upright Centre; the increasing gap between the rich and the poor; the trivialisation of the media; the unsustainability,in an environmental sense,of present patterns of resource consumption; the instability and policy incoherence caused by multi-party coalition governments8221;,he writes.

Listing India8217;s several achievements that prompted predictions and ambitions in some quarters about India being the next superpower,the study goes on to discuss several challenges that are likely to prevent India from realising such ambitions.

It says: 8220;Still,for all India8217;s success,its undoubted importance and despite its undisputed potential,there is cause for caution in assessing India8217;s claim to superpower status.

8220;India still faces major developmental challenges. The still-entrenched divisions of caste structure are being compounded by the emergence of new inequalities of wealth stemming from India8217;s economic success8221;.

The study adds: 8220;India8217;s democracy may have thrived in a manner that few ever expected,but its institutions face profound challenges from embedded nepotism and corruption.

8220;India8217;s economic success continues to come with an environmental cost that is unsustainable8221;.

Moreover,the study says that India has pressing security preoccupations,but sees the country continuing to play a constructive international role in,among other things,the financial diplomacy of the G20.

8220;It certainly has a soft-power story to tell as a model of liberal political and economic development.

8220;Perhaps even more significantly,the cultural impact of Indian cuisine,literature,films,music and sporting events will increasingly be felt globally through and beyond India8217;s vast diaspora8221;,the study says.

It adds: 8220;Yet the hopes of those in the West who would build up India as a democratic counterweight to Chinese superpower are unlikely to be realised anytime soon8221;.

Besides Guha,other contributors to the study are Rajeev Sibal,Iskander Rehman,Nicolas Blarel,Oliver Stuenkel,Harish Wankhede,Mukulika Banerjee,Andrew Sanchez and Sandeep Sengupta.