India has great potential; it was one of the world’s largest economies in the pre-modern world, and it could very much become so again. But the desire to compete with China is also premised on the thinking it is a ‘civilization state’ with a grand historical, philosophical and cultural portfolio dating back millennia.
It is fair to ask, though, if it is really serving India’s best interests to join the West’s anti-China game. And is beating China abroad key to making progress at home? To say the least this has been a painful lesson for Modi to learn, and for the time being it’s back to the drawing board.