For so long, China has been the up-and-coming global power. Raising over 800 million people out of poverty, becoming the second largest GDP (by some margin), and spreading its influence around the world. However, since the COVID-19 pandemic, their growth has started to slow down. Now there is a new rising global power.
India has been growing at a significant rate for some time now. Hovering around an average GDP growth of 7%, India’s economy is taking off in leaps and bounds. Now they have the largest population on earth according to the United Nations, India has a strong future, and Prime Minister Modi is hoping to be the one to shape it.
Modi has a large popularity within his country. Over the past few years, he has signed deals to allow Tesla to build new manufacturing plants in India, and allow a new Apple store. He still continues to get cheap oil and natural gas from Russia. India is expecting a GDP growth of over 7% this year. Some reports estimate India has a GDP of $3.75 trillion. Economically, India is jumping leaps and bounds.
But Modi wants to rebrand India and bring it to the world stage. It starts by hosting the G-20 summit. India has the ability to show off its country to the rest of the G-20 and push its policies as a host. Modi has also been traveling the world and speaking with world leaders. He was just at the white house addressing Congress in July. Putting a spacecraft on the moon had sprung India’s name to the world stage. Modi has clear goals to become a world leader.
Modi is starting this quest at home. Many of the invitations to the G-20 summit were named after the president of Bharat. Modi is looking to cleanse and get rid of any colonial ties and Muslim ties in his country. He is using Hindu nationalism to reach his goals, and changing the country’s name as a rebranding moment can do just that. As of 2022, Modi has the highest approval rating of any world leader on the planet, coming in at a high of 77%.
He is now expressing his leadership and India’s power on the global stage as well. Hosting G-20 is important. But his India First policy is what keeps him in such popularity. Modi will only sign onto anything with the West that will give him more popularity at home. Example A is condemning China and working with the United States on security alliances. On the flip side of that coin, President Joe Biden had asked Modi to condemn Russia but because of their reliance on cheap Russian oil and natural gas, Modi would not condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Modi wants to put India’s vision first, above all else.
So how does the world work with this new rising India? The good news is the difficulty might not be the same as China’s. Xi Jinping has been China’s leader for 10 years now and has aimed to make a new world order to directly counter the United States and its Western allies. India wants to work with whoever is going to help give India growth. The United States and Western allies can use this to create new trade deals with India and new security partnerships. With the dispute on the Northeastern border with China, India is going to want to rely on the United States and Western allies for security, and the West will want to use this to get an advantage over China.
India is rising and is here to stay. India is going to want to continue exerting itself on the world stage. Finding new partners, affirming old relationships, and even creating enemies is going to be a part of the new world. Modi wants a new world order that allows for India to become not just a leader, but one of the key leaders of the future.
Author: Joshua Cheatham
