Photo from vm2827 on flickr.com

During her recent trip to India, Hillary Clinton declared that America was betting on India for the future. This has led to America pressuring the UN to get India a permanent seat on the Security Council and also the forging of ever-stronger trade links.

Prima facie this looks like a smart move. India has recorded astonishing rates of economic growth, funds a space programme, maintains nuclear weapons; it is the worlds largest democracy with a multi-cultural society and uses English as on of its official languages. This all adds up to a lucrative trade-partner with a familiar culture and, importantly, without any of the political unease of dealing with China’s authoritarian government.

Beneath this glowing exterior however, Indian society is far more troubled than it first appears;

• The economy has slowed so that GDP growth from January to March was the lowest in five quarters.
• Food inflation has been the highest for 16 years at around 10 per cent or more. This has led to food shortages and in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh a survey by a local NGO revealed 83% of children are undernourished.
• The manufacturing sector - which accounts for 80 per cent of industrial output - grew at 5.5 per cent, the slowest in 18 months

In the context of a world-wide economic slow-down and rising commodity prices where many western countries are in recession, a slower growth rate may not be too much to worry about, however, Indian society has seen upheaval in recent months that is more troublesome.

Corruption has been a factor in Indian politics for a long time but a recent rash of scandals has led to a movement calling for a constitutional amendment. This debate has led to wide-spread protests including acerbic criticism of the political classes, civil disobedience and hunger strikes.

Is this unrest merely a bump on the road towards India gaining superpower status or is it a harbinger for strife to come? These issues will be debated in our upcoming debate on September 27th “Democracy is India’s Achilles’ heel”.