Their established ties rest on a foundation of common values and goals.
The celebration by India and France of 25 years of their strategic partnership (January 26) presents an important opportunity for both to introspect on their relations. Signed in 1998, the time-tested strategic partnership has continued to gain momentum over shared values and aspirations of peace, stability and, most importantly, their desire for strategic autonomy.
After years of talking about a new Cold War, the world got to see its one glimpse a few days back when a Chinese spy balloon floated in American airspace, only to be blown to smithereens, but not before leaving enormous debris in its wake. There are, of course, the remains of the balloon that the US agencies will be studying carefully. But it also led to the demise of some nascent optimism about a possible détente between the two major global powers. It was great spectacle for sure, but more than that, it was a testament to these trying times in global politics when nothing really is what it seems.
Make in America, Made in America, buy American were the key arguments as Biden underscored that US can once again be the manufacturing hub and best economy in the world.
By Indian standards post-liberalization, and especially by the standards of the Modi government’s pre-pandemic budgets, Budget 2023 is huge: 14.9% of GDP. The government proposes to use its Rs 45 lakh crore expenditure heft to not just boost growth but also to expand the presence of the state to sectors that had escaped its reach. Whether this is a good thing, or a bad thing will depend on the observer’s ideological predilections.
Can India create a higher education system worthy of its aspirations as a full-fledged knowledge economy? That’s still to be determined. But India is on the verge of taking a major, long-awaited first step in the right direction: With the recent release of draft rules by the country’s higher education regulator — the University Grants Commission — India is moving closer to allowing high-quality foreign universities to set up campuses to help meet the country’s growing appetite for advanced education.
Covid-19, Ukraine, and their economic fallouts, have shown us that in today’s world, every crisis has global dimensions. India, at this moment in time, is perhaps more involved in global multilateralism than it has been at any point in its history.