Making South Asia an Economic power. My POV

[Sam.]

Only way SAARC can achieve its goals is if China becomes part of this union. This way no country will be allowed todo its hegemony over others. Without China its only indian centric, which is in none of our interests. @Armstrong

1947 to 2011 murica murcia

2011 onwards china china

when will you say ? pakistan pakistan

Damn cheerleaders :/

 

[Gibbs]

That could only happen if India starts seeing herself as a responsible power amidst numerous other countries and not as the nucleus of South Asia around which every country revolves around and should, thus, fall in line by recognizing the natural order of things. For that to happen a little more magnanimity in terms of non-interventionism in the affairs of neighboring countries whether it be the Tamils in Sri Lanka or whichever lady rules Bangladesh on one hand to not making a mockery out of inter-regional trading by evicting enormous barriers to trade while harping on about regional connectivity is what India ought to be more concerned about.

Being a large country with an insecure and petty mentality isn't really going to endear the neighbors.

Likewise the regional countries, especially Pakistan, must realize that India is not looking for regional hegemony nor for any territorial changes but simply its due place as the most economically and militarily significant power in South Asia. So the occasional policy tantrums that Indian policy makers have are not because of some deliberate plot to castrate Pakistan or any other neighbor but simply the knee-jerk reactions of an emerging power still coming to grips with her own reality as a significant player. Its going to take time for India to be a bit more mature and figure out the right balance between advocating her own national interests without bull-doozing those off other neighboring countries.

In the meantime other regional countries, especially Pakistan, must also realize that stupidity begets stupidity so you don't really go on toe to toe with a 400 pound sumo wrestler when you're not even welterweight yet. So become economically and socio-political relevant, trade with each other, cooperate with each other on the basis of dignity and avoid any moronic policy that leads to conflict or a needless showdown.

In short learn how the game works before playing it.

Well said

 

[45'22']

-- My PoV

Our region was an Economic power throughout our rich history. According to some Economists if we were able calculated the GDP of Indian Subcontinent as a whole for the past 2000 years till the 17th century , it would be around a staggering 25% of the world GDP. But the economic condition of South Asia today do not match it's past glory. So what happened ? May be we could give some historic reasons. We could argue that our region never had any Industrial revolution like that of Europe or we could point fingers at British for colonizing us and destroying our indigenous local Industry and never allowing us to develop. But what did we do during the last 70 years to progress, are we a disgrace to our ancestors who build this great civilization , who made this region of ours a great economic power maintained our economic superiority for thousands of years.

I really don't want to go more into the past, i'm writing this stuff up to have a positive discussion on what we can do from now on to emulate East Asian growth model or even better, to create a unique South Asian model of Economic growth for ourselves. Well there is a great ambiguity over what kind of model that would be, would it be a pure manufacturing driven growth which our Chinese members are so proud of. ( Well indeed they have every reason to be proud of it) or can our region be the Back office of the world , or we can be both ( it indeed sounds unachievable).We all know that there is no ready made solutions but i what to discuss here are the steps that us South Asian countries should take to become developed economically, politically & socially.

What's Keeping our region backward

But a common question that arises in our mind is what the hell is keeping us backward, what's that one reason stopping us from our march forward into the future ? Well let me be honest with you guys, actually i don't really know. So let me give out some reasons which i feel is true ( actually it might not be even relevant at all). But please bear with me my dear PDF friends.

Partition of India and Pakistan
Well one would wonder how Partition of India is related to this Economic revival thread of mine. But i think it's somehow related. I think many of you would be surprised with the Sub title - "Partition of India and Pakistan". I put it that way to support the perspective of our Pakistani friends that Pakistan by itself has a unique identity and it's not just a Muslim part of India. Some of our Indians brothers have some problem to accept this very basic fact. Well see there are many psychological problems arising from this event which turned really horrific. But don't have that kind of time to list more psychological problems arising from this very event. All I i want to say is these physiological factor the discussion made by both governments on economic front.

Wars & Proxy wars
Well it's a well known fact that you can't have a sound economic growth & trade in a region filled with conflicts , violence & turmoil.And this being a defense forum , i don't think that here is much to discuss about all hostilities between biggest of two South Asian nations - including all the proxy wars still going on.

Are Socialist/Communists to be blamed
India the biggest of SA nation tried to ape the economic model of the Great Soviet Union including it's landmark 5 year plan. And it failed miserably. Ahh .. I know many here on PDF would disagree on that and say something like it was a necessary evil to protect our vulnerable work force.
But we need to give credit to Pakistan (East & West) for not falling into this trap. During the early period of independence they were actually on the right track in the field of economic growth.

South Asians are neither Workaholics nor innovative
Saying South Asians are neither Workaholics nor innovative would be a crude generalization. But what to do, after seeing our own people i feel it's true to some extend.

Trade Barriers
Our region is the least economically connected region and it's such a shame in this age of globalization.Like someone said no trade no development seems to hundred percent true. Well the graph below presents the pathetic condition of our region. I truly feel that together we could have achieved much better.

Vision less leaders
I guess i don't need to point out the obvious reason. We South Asian know know what kind of leaders we had in the past.

Our Way forward
No country can develop in isolation. We need to sort out our difference( both internal and external) and move ahead hand in hand, at-least in the economic front . I'm not saying that we should be best buddies but we must compromise. We must atleast become what China and Japan is today for the future of our region, for our own South Asia.

@levina @SrNair @SpArK @Armstrong @ito @Echo_419 @Color_Less_Sky @waz @Gibbs @SarthakGanguly @jamahir @rockstar08 @Koovie @Razia Sultana @IndoCarib @BDforever @bongbang @Oscar @thesolar65 @Rain Man @zip @LoveIcon @nair @IndoUS @Abingdonboy @Soumitra @Android @gslv @45'22'

And
South Asians & all other well wishers(international members) are welcome to make Positive suggestions on the topic.

If Asia is to grow then we have to set aside our differences
There should be a mutual pact that India,Pakistan and China will not attack each other
But Chinese increase in defence budget will impact India
it's better to have a common defence for all 3 countries so that we can invest more in education
Pakistan should give access and should get money in return which will be a win win situation
IndoChina trade should double

But I think except for the last thing none is going to happen
Anyways we are developing and we will be among the top3 one day

 

[Piru Niqqa]

its not ours but yr india is an artificial state, heck its not even a nation by its constitution its just a union.


bwahahaha kiddo! get some knowledge about our population.

GENETIC DIVERSITY IN PAKISTANI POPULATIONS

repeating yr state propaganda wont serve u good.


Only way SAARC can achieve its goals is if China becomes part of this union. This way no country will be allowed todo its hegemony over others. Without China its only indian centric, which is in none of our interests. @Armstrong

Hahaha, stupid Pakistani. Every ancient scholar agrees that India existed. You are a fake artificial country my son. And you are not Arabs or Mughals either you little beggar.

 

[Luca1]

Hahaha, stupid Pakistani. Every ancient scholar agrees that India existed. You are a fake artificial country my son. And you are not Arabs or Mughals either you little beggar.

Ancient India exist as a land and civilization. But never as a country. The country of India was created by Britain. So Churchill was correct and historically accurate on how he described India. But US and India were first first British colonies before we become independent. The independence of US ended the first British empire as the 13 colonies were the wealthiest and most important of the first British empire. Later, Britain acquired India and India became an important colony of the 2nd British empire.

 

[Piru Niqqa]

Ancient India exist as a land and civilization. But never as a country. The country of India was created by Britain. So Churchill was correct and historically accurate on how he described India. But US and India were first first British colonies before we become independent. The independence of US ended the first British empire as the 13 colonies were the wealthiest and most important of the first British empire. Later, Britain acquired India and India became an important colony of the 2nd British empire.

Yes, India is a region. That's why it's called a Union. Because it's a union of different states in a region known as India. Now compare that to Pakistan which isn't even a region.

 

[Levina]

@Lord Zen
Excellent thread. All the 6 reasons you've mentioned 're definitely what makes Indian economy weak.
I'm just adding a few more points
1) Our population - India has world’s second largest population with an economy which is predominately agrarian in nature where agriculture employs nearly two-third of workforce, contributes about a quarter share of national income. Our humongous population is what stalls the progress, add to it the fact that we don't have ways to create employment within India.
2) Rigid labor laws- I've heard that India's rigid labor laws is what prevents companies from expanding. This reduces foreign investment too.
3) Another issue is that our hard infrastructure (roads, ports, power, broadband, etc) is very weak and energy security is poor.
4) Strong leadership: Till recently we lacked a strong leader.
5) Last but not the least, the most cliche reason; Bureaucracy and corruption.

 

[Luca1]

Yes, India is a region. That's why it's called a Union. Because it's a union of different states in a region known as India. Now compare that to Pakistan which isn't even a region.

Pakistan was never a region. But it's now an independent country like Imdia is today.

You are right on about India Union. It's a union of small states. European Union is another of such "Union"

As for a country, both India and Pakistan were created by the British empire. The only difference is that Indias English name coincides the name of the region. But Pakistan is not.

 

[Piru Niqqa]

Pakistan was never a region. But it's now an independent country like Imdia is today.

You are right on about India Union. It's a union of small states. European Union is another of such "Union"

A better comparison would be the UK, England, Scotland and Wales. Similar to us they make one country.

 

[East or West India Best]

South Asia is headed towards absolute destruction. Feel free to disagree however deep down in your hearts you know that i'm right..

"pakistan* is headed towards absolute destruction. Feel free to disagree however deep down in your hearts you know that i'm right."

Yea you are right. We OTOH are growing at a brisk pace.

1947 to 2011 murica murcia

2011 onwards china china

when will you say ? pakistan pakistan

Damn cheerleaders :/

2020: India India?

 

[waz]

@Lord Zen I'm sorry your thread has been spoiled by a few idiots. It is an excellent thread and I'll clear it and contribute.

 

[ito]

You are in a fool paradise we dont know how to arm twist but we do know how to wipe nation out .........

What is your age kid?...Now don't quote me with your immature responses.

 

[faisal6309]

Nope Mr PRI(Pakistani Equivalent of NRI) both India & Pakistan are destined to become Great nations

What makes you think of that?

 

[Ragnar]

I think the innovation/ work ethic part is not true.There are hardworking people everywhere, just as there are lazy people everywhere. There is a lot of entrepreneurial spirit here- even the old lady who sells idli-dosa-pongal near my office makes a tidy profit. We need to tap this very cleverly. For India, the key is :
1) Health and Education needs a big funding boost.
2)Encourage small businesses to grow- everybody started small, even starbucks
3) improve ease of doing business, payment of taxes etc.
4) labour reforms
5) Judicial reforms- especially time taken for enforcement of contracts

All this would require politicians to put long term vision ahead of short term populist gains. That would extremely difficult.

 

[ravi kiran]

The biggest problem I see in India is lack of centralisation so various different states in India are attempting to pull the country into its own direction while some states even have the capability of influencing the foreign policy of India to expand the vote bank of their own local politicians despite knowing that their decisions hinder the policy gains of India. Now, I especially mentioned India because India is the most important nation in South Asian region and for the true development to take place we need a responsible India.

Agree our foreign policy is affected by regional state politics. but now we have strong central government that can take decisions despite any state opposition.

Unless there is peace between India and Pakistan, there will be no peace and progress. Both sides need to step back on the Kashmir issue in order for both to move forward.

we can just bypass Pakistan and develop south asia with help from other south asian countries. and we are moving in that direction. Pakistan is free to do whatever it want to do.