January 27 marked the 73rd anniversary of the entry into force of the Indian Constitution of 1950 (independence from the British Empire was declared on August 15, 1947). Since then it has become a nation that has made significant progress both internally and externally.
At the end of 2022, according to the demographic estimate of the United Nations, its population not only exceeded 1.4 billion inhabitants, but is even greater than that of China, which has recorded the first year of population decline since statistics were kept. A population with a broad youth base is today a clear advantage for economic and social development. When a country increases its average age and projects an aging population, its economic and social challenges worsen, both to sustain the pension systems and in terms of immigration.
Secondly, India’s GDP in 2022 surpassed the United Kingdom –which was its colonial power– and is already the fifth in the world, behind the United States, China, Japan and Germany, and several times higher than it was at a time of their independence.
In military terms, it is the third expense in the global arena, at a time when the growing geopolitical conflicts give this factor increasing relevance. It is after the US and China. Regarding Argentina, it has presented an offer for the multipurpose fighters that our Air Force must renew.
Military asymmetry between Russia and NATO
A special theme shows the strategic vision of the country: the space race. Perhaps it is the most important issue for Humanity in the long term, that is, between now and 2050, by the time the human presence has reached Mars. By 2023, the Indian space program aims to be the fourth country to independently launch astronauts into space, after Russia, the United States and, most recently since 2003, China. The Gaganyaan program, originally aimed to carry the crew into space in 2022 to mark the 75th anniversary of Indian independence, but suffered delays, among other causes due to covid. The first of two uncrewed test flights is the Gaganyaan G1, which is to be launched in the last quarter of 2023, on a people-carrying LVM 3 rocket. The goal of the country’s Space Research Organization (ISRO), from then on, is to move towards a first manned flight, now scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2024.
But it is also the largest democracy in the world. 70% of its population votes in India, more than the United States, Europe and Latin America combined. The monitoring of democratic quality carried out by American and European universities shows that the functioning of the Indian democratic system is similar to that of Brazil, Argentina or Colombia in Latin America.
From this point of view, India breaks with the thesis that democracy only works in the West and that authoritarianism is the regime that characterizes the East. But India being a democracy is not just important in terms of its relationship with the West. It is also true with respect to democracy as a global political system, at a time when Western peoples question the functioning of their political systems.
That an economist from an Indian family, who practices the Hindu religion and is married to a woman born in India, has been elected Prime Minister of England by the Conservative Party, is a fact relevant to the colonial past. At the same time, this nationality is the one with the most CEO’s at the helm of global companies.
India has remained neutral in the face of the war between Russia and Ukraine: it questions the invasion of the latter for violating the principle of sovereignty, but at the same time it does not add to the economic sanctions towards the latter. It is the same position held by Latin America and the Caribbean as a whole and by almost all of the emerging world.
India’s global role will be confirmed in September 2023. Two global summits are held in New Delhi: the G20, made up of the world’s most important countries, and the Shanghai Group, made up of the Asian powers.
From the internal point of view, in recent decades India has shown the ability to handle a problem such as the Muslim minority, which exceeds two hundred million inhabitants. While in many countries around the world Islamic extremism manifested itself in terrorist acts, India will control the problem.
Finally, regarding Argentina, it is a growing destination for our exports, while for India, our country can be a destination for investment and not only for trade. But Argentina’s success in the World Cup showed popular expressions of joy and support in various regions of India. It is not an anecdote, but evidence that this Asian power is an area that also opens possibilities for the development of Argentina’s “soft power”, as India does with the values of its religion, history and culture.
*Director of the Nueva Mayoría Study Center.
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