The reality of India I saw was often grim. Yet the country still confounds those who write it off

…Link GivePieceAChance 6 Mar 2010, 3:13AM In my six years there, it was hard not to be infected by the hubris of India ? a nation that feels part of history, an essential actor on the global stage … a country that had thrived as a democracy despite unbounded poverty, mass illiteracy and entrenched social dividesThose characteristics describe Britain during the imperial era. World powers have fleets. “The venality, mediocrity and indiscipline of its ruling class” will keep India down in terms of its ability to contribute anything technologically or culturally. Whether it becomes a world power or not depends on whether it builds a mighty navy and merchant marine and avoids a disastrous collision with China, Japan, Britain, and the United States.it was activists who shamed the government last year into enacting a law to make children’s education compulsory.Not much to crow about there. India is finally catching up to more progressive countries that did that more than a century earlier.one of my first…

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A passage to world power

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