For a country many look to as the next big emerging growth engine, just when the current one is sputtering after a virtually uninterrupted 35-year run, it matters a great deal to be seen and heard on the world stage. This is what Prime Minister Narendra Modi has apparently attempted in his various foreign trips and interactions with world leaders, even if there are cynics who might view these more as acts of self-projection. Any aspiring power, nevertheless, has to assert itself in the world arena and show that it means business while willing to proactively engage on issues from global security to climate change. Modi’s latest US visit — where he has held roundtables with top American CEOs across sectors, and made a powerful pitch for India’s permanent membership in the UN Security Council (UNSC) along with Japan, Germany and Brazil — should be viewed as part of this larger signalling exercise.
But all these right noises and photo-ops with Fortune 500 CEOs will not carry credibility unless accompanied by concrete policy action back home. Investors ultimately want ease of doing business — which is what a robust bankruptcy law and a nationwide goods and services tax regime would greatly enable. They seek stability, transparency and predictability in taxation and regulatory policies. The current government hasn’t exactly covered itself in glory — whether in trying to break the legislative logjam in Parliament, creating new uncertainties through retrospective tax demands on capital gains by foreign portfolio investors (thankfully, since resolved) or the forced withdrawal of Maggi noodles from stores based on questionable sampling and testing procedures. Similar uncomfortable questions would be asked about whether Modi’s messages of openness are consistent with the anti-minorities, venom-spitting views of some of his own ministers. A country aspiring for global leadership cannot be seen to tolerate such small-minded parochialism.
