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Shekhar Gupta is Editor-in-Chief of ThePrint and one of India’s most distinguished journalists. A recipient of the Padma Bhushan and multiple journalism awards, he has reported on key events in India and from around the world since the 1980s. At ThePrint, he does a daily online show, Cut the Clutter, in which he dissects, analyses, and contextualises complex daily news developments and current affairs. He also writes his weekly column National Interest.
Firstly stop talking about both our neighbors. Start by focusing on decisive action—strengthening our proactive intelligence network and security systems to an exceptional standard. Let’s build capabilities so robust, coordinated, and forward-looking that our borders are safeguarded with absolute confidence, ensuring lasting peace and preventing any untoward incidents on our soil.
Alongside meaningful self-reflection, we have an incredible opportunity to channel our energy into building a stronger, more resilient foundation for the future. By investing in modern infrastructure, ensuring access to clean drinking water, responsibly developing our mineral resources, and advancing healthcare and education, we can unlock immense national potential. Strengthening agriculture, accelerating research and development in material science, and nurturing human intelligence will empower generations to innovate and lead.
We can also think boldly about connectivity— (for example) exploring the potential of the great Brahmaputra river for internal transport and developing strategic alternatives to critical routes like the Chicken’s Neck corridor. With thoughtful planning and vision, these initiatives can transform accessibility, efficiency, and security.
By focusing on all these, we set in motion a powerful cycle of progress—driving job creation, fueling advancements in space and defense technology, and shaping a future defined by capability, confidence, and growth.
As long the narrative is to be ahead of Pakistan, which this article keeps alluding to; India will never progress.
Reforms require a decentralised approach. Indian governments past & present are trying to centralise power, which has led to bloated bureaucracy, destroying innovation, productivity and general economic growth. Mouthing minimum government and maximum governance needs to be actioned. Engaging in social re-engineering, mixing religious and social matters in policy priorities is a waste of time. The hawkish stance of the government towards certain communities has had a serious impact on both international relationships and local policy.
Most importantly get rid of reservations at all levels, focus on education, remove all references to caste and creed. Additionally, make election a state funded process, so that corruption will take a hit
I’ve always wondered what Shekhar Gupta means my National Interest.
Now I know.
It’s the interests of the ruling class and the money class. Adivasis in jungle can burn in hell as far as he cares. Households and small businesses can be ruined as fertilizer companies make their profits. The current levels of obnoxious inequalit, bigotry and tyranny do not cause him to lose sleep in the least.
Never taking this man seriously again..
Modi has found another election jinnie….the OBC card.
He doesn’t need reforms, economy for winning.
And elections are the only thing he cares about 🤗🤗
It has been a story of partly misplaced priorities, trumpeted claims through aggressive media-social media campaigns and above all a disturbing claim of being a Vishwa-guru. There are occasional sparks in space domain, recently atomic energy domain, but overall India and Indians (in India) continue to perform well below their potential. One is a Vishwa-guru, when others bestow you that status and not when you go on repeating the lie, a thousand times.
Another important issue which I would like to mention is corruption. Rebuilding roads every 5 to 10 years (being optimistic here) is a huge waste of money which could be otherwise allocated somewhere else.
It is always the economy, wise one. 2. Statistics is not my forte but my heart tells me that India could have clocked a full two percentage points of additional economic growth since May 2014 with a better set of policies. More openness to trade. Reforms throughout the economy, with states dismantling many of their rent seeking policies. There was so much political capital.
India would rather continue with freebies, subsidies, reservations, and loan waivers instead of reforms. Long live socialism, say the Congress, BJP, and the communists.