There is little doubt in anyone’s mind that having the largest youth population (…and still growing) in the world and much improved infrastructure India is a place of immense interest to (i) the global businesses who are looking for an attractive market for their products; and (ii) enterprises who are looking to diversify their production/services base to a place with abundant and cheap skilled workforce, natural resources, favorable policy framework, and decent infrastructure. The foreign governments which run on the support of these businesses (or the governments who run these businesses themselves) are obviously keen to widen and deepen their relationship with the Indian businesses and government.
Fast growing economic and geo-political influence of China in global affairs has also enhanced India’s importance as a key balancing factor in the global strategy of developed countries and strategic alliance partners.
With this growing interest of the global community, it is natural that India has become subject of greater scrutiny by the global media, political observers, regulators, civil society watchdogs, various interest groups & lobbies, etc.
This scrutiny is usually not limited to regulatory compliances and corporate governance issues. It actually goes much beyond that. For example—
· The businesses who are investing (or planning to invest) billions of dollars in India facilities, would want to ensure that policy making becomes (and remains) conducive to their interest. It is therefore common for them to make attempts to influence the policy making function through various means, all of which may not be ethical or fall within the contours of established diplomatic norms.
· The foreign governments relying on the capabilities of the Indian administration and businessmen for protecting and furthering their strategic and economic interests would obviously dislike an independent policy thinking in India. Forceful attempts would be consistently made to engage India in global protocols, treaties and alliances so that the policy making in India remains aligned to their interest.
· The technology innovators would try hard to ensure that their IPRs are protected, Indian technology firms do not engage in developing competing designs/products etc.; Indian manufacturers and service providers engage in low value add jobs only while the innovators keep the bulk of the margins.
· The lobbies working on behalf of the competitors and adversaries would rake social issues like intolerance, inequalities, human and minority rights’ violation, lack of sustainability in large infrastructure projects, etc. All of these concerns may not be mala fide, but definitely most of these are sponsored.
How would India deal with these foreign interest groups shall ultimately define the quality and sustainability of our socio-economic progress. If the government and businesses could maintain a balance between India’s developmental and growth needs and concerns of the global partners, we could witness some brilliant decades for India and Indians. However, if we fail in achieving a balance and give into the pressures of various interest groups; or refuse to engage with them sticking to our own position, we would definitely risk missing this great opportunity.
As of this morning, the struggle to find the balance remains intense…more on this tomorrow
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