A new world order is taking shape and if India wants to be a key power, it has to equip itself. It’s important that India realises what the contours of the new world will be, says Ram Madhav, President of India Foundation, a New Delhi-based think tank.
A Heteropolar World
The West is on the decline and will have a reduced influence. Correspondingly, China is on the rise. A Cold War is brewing between China and the U.S. but going forward it will be very different from the Cold War of the last century, he adds. A number of middle powers will stay off this tussle but won’t be passive.
“I see a future where there would be no single dominant power. Regional powers will play a bigger role but even they won’t be able to sustain the new order. Here, big tech companies and even NGOs will step in.”
He cited instances of George Soros, Elon Musk, Ford Foundation and the like to drive home what he calls heteropolarity.
Is India Ready?
Ram Madhav believes India is not fully equipped to deal with the new world order. The world we will face in the next 15-odd years will be very different from now and the Prime Minister understands it, he adds. “If trade and capital were key to a country’s rise in the last century, going forward it will be capital and technology.”
India may become a $5 trillion economy but it won’t help if it lags behind in frontier technologies. Today, it’s not about how much capital you have but how much technological advancements you have made, he says.
Tech R&D Lagging
Highlighting that India severely lags behind in technological research and development, Ram Madhav says the private sector needs to rise to the occasion. He rues that some of the biggest Indian companies which are multinational “don’t even spend 1 per cent on R&D”. Pointing towards companies like IBM and Nvidia that invest heavily on R&D, Ram Madhav advocates a whole-of-nation approach in India. “India is a $4 trillion economy; Nvidia is a $4 trillion company.”
According to him, India needs to shun the catch-up mentality. “We need to think about getting ahead of the curve.”
