Editorial

Heroic leaders at the helm of India's ascent

Despite the fiasco of the run-up to the recently concluded Commonwealth Games, India today is a buzzword throughout the world. With the possible exception of Beijing and Islamabad, India is welcomed and cherished in most world capitals. This represents a complete turnaround from as recently as 15 years ago when New Delhi was mired in upheavals of many descriptions and seemed incapable of emerging into a new and more successful future. How has this miracle happened?

Much credit for this turnaround must go the country's sagacious prime minister, Manmohan Singh, a modest, self-effacing economist who has worked tirelessly and successfully for the greater good of his country and without any thought of enriching himself or his family. He is a man of honour and decency, a true hero and a possible future candidate for the Nobel Peace Prize if he somehow manages to pull off a Kashmir settlement before he leaves office.

But credit must also go to India's founding fathers who kept the country out of the Cold War and laid the industrial base that became the bedrock of India's industrial revolution, helping to sustain the economic upswing that is so evident in the 21st century.

How easy it would have been for India's leaders at independence to fall into the trap of other Asian countries — Cambodia and Pakistan come to mind — by participating in the Cold War and ultimately suffering as one of its inevitable victims. Fortunately, India had in Jawaharlal Nehru a leader of depth and vision who managed to steer the ship of state away from obvious dangers. Of course he made mistakes. The 1947 Kashmir war, the 1962 India-China conflict occurred on his watch, but, fortunately, they remained regional conflicts that did not draw in the Super Powers with all the disastrous consequences that would have resulted.

Nehru died more than 45 years ago and the country he left behind may not now be the socialist paradise he once hoped for. But even Nehru, were he still alive, would have applauded India's impressive economic growth that has created hope for tens of millions of the country's citizens. This is also the result of the efforts made by Manmohan Singh — one of Nehru's successors — who encouraged the natural entrepreneurial skills of his fellow Indians.

India's capitalists were once dismissed as backwoodsmen, but Manmohan Singh was among the first to recognise their natural, world-class skills to make money and create jobs. If companies like Tata are today a formidable overseas investor in, for example, the UK, they should doff their caps in the direction of the Indian prime minister who has encouraged them at every step.

Yet it is not just a question of giving the green light to India's wealthiest companies to continue expanding. More affordable schools and universities are being built, thanks to New Delhi's initiative, and efforts are underway to boost transport infrastructure.

On the other hand, many problems remain. Millions of Indian children remain malnourished, clean drinking water is a mirage for many, health and housing problems abound, corruption is rampant.

Nevertheless, some fundamentals have changed. An Indian child born today has a better chance than ever before of successfully moulding his or her destiny. An Indian baby born today will not grow up in an international political vacuum, but will interact and hopefully contribute to the betterment of fellow human beings around the world.

Whether that baby becomes an engineer building dams in Peru, or a doctor helping the downtrodden in the deepest jungles of Africa, it has every chance of making its mark on the world stage and being thanked in the process.

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