New Delhi: The Economist has written about ‘How India became an unexpected role model for Europe.’ And it’s not just about “currying favour”, says the article, which is replete with plenty of puns in similarly bad taste.
Noting, with some self-awareness, that ageing Europeans often go on retreats in India— “seeking the reinvigorating properties of a few yoga stretches and gallons of masala chai”—the article asks an interesting question: might this work for political federations as well?
“The entire team of 27 European Union commissioners is gearing up for a brief passage to India later this month, a rare mass excursion out of their small peninsula,” writes The Economist. “For the Brussels-dwelling Eurocrats on tour, the bustling South Asian vibe on offer will mark a sharp contrast with their home turf, whose sclerotic economy is matched only by its gridlocked politics.”
In its classic style, The Economist makes several cutting observations about India—hidden behind generalisations. The EU’s visit will include some “earnest entreaties” to agree on a trade deal and some grumbles about “grinding poverty” and “putrid Delhi’s smog,” it predicts.
“Europeans have long come to poorer countries with lectures on how backward locals should aspire to be more like them, with a focus on human rights, green rules and so on. That moralising tone might usefully be left behind in this case,” the report says.
“For all India’s flaws, an attentive European visitor will see much there that should make them envious—and that they might learn from.”
And what makes India an unexpected role model for the Europeans? Economic growth, it says. “Something that feels as alien in their homeland as bland food might in Mumbai,” writes The Economist.
The other unattainable draw for Europeans is India’s demographics. Europe worries that it will get poorer as it gets older, and drawing lessons from India’s social model could help European policymakers, the article adds.
“As representatives of federal Europe’s top body, the commissioners will look with jealousy at India’s governance,” the report continues, crowing with unexpected praise. “How can a peninsula with two dozen official languages, different religions and cuisines ever spawn a coherent collective identity, with an army to boot? Europe is wondering; India has already shown the way.”
Of course, not every facet of Indian politics is worth replicating, the article demurs. India suffers from “crass majoritarianism”, and its polity is “over-centralised.” But while they’re here, the Eurocrats should try to meet Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani more than Prime Minister Narendra Modi and learn about his vision for digital infrastructure.
“A detour to Bangalore and its startup scene would prove enlightening for the EU brigade,” The Economist suggests.
But more realistically, much of the talk will probably be about geopolitics. “India and Europe are both aspiring third wheels in a Group of Two (G2) world. Both fret about being dependent on China as a trade partner and could use each other’s help to diversify. Both also worry about America’s Trumpian turn, though it is “more obviously problematic for the EU,” the article says. Plus, India has achieved some measure of the “strategic economy” Europeans now crave.
Lots for the Europeans to ponder over biryani, says The Economist.
The New York Times continues with its coverage of the quintessential India story: the Maha Kumbh. The mela has hit its 500 million visitors mark, according to government estimates, and the global media is still marvelling at its sheer scale.
“The makeshift metropolis constructed for the event sits on 10,000 acres of land temporarily claimed from the Ganges, whose waters recede at this time of year. The ‘ephemeral megacity’, as Harvard researchers have called it, includes hospitals, pontoon bridges, nearly 70,000 street lamps, thousands of flush toilets, 250 miles of steel-plank roads resting on the silty river bed, and tents running from the modest to the luxurious,” Anupreeta Das and Hari Kumar report in the NYT’s India Dispatch.
But what really catches their fascination is the mela’s Lost and Found Center, helping connect those who take a wrong turn with their family and companions.
In Have You Seen This Pilgrim? Lost in the Throngs of the Kumbh Mela, the NYT reports that “the state and central governments are spending hundreds of millions of dollars to ensure the safety of Kumbh Mela pilgrims, an undertaking whose immense challenges became clear last month when 30 pilgrims died in a stampede as they rushed to bathe in the river.”
“Crucial to the safety effort are the lost-and-found center and its 10 field offices. They are a place of hope and despair, as devotees show up by the thousands every day to report missing persons and, sometimes, lost objects.”
Attendees can use the public address system to make their own announcements in their mother tongues, while those who panic and might be scared are consoled by volunteers from nonprofits.
“Once someone reports a person missing, workers feed as many details as they can into a computerised system that uses facial-recognition technology. The information is shared with the police and other offices and also announced over the public address system. Those who are found are put up in a hall lined with beds made of cardboard boxes. This year, they were donated by Amazon and feature its logo prominently,” the NYT reports.
Meanwhile, Andy Mukherjee writes in Bloomberg that by announcing reciprocal tariffs, “(US President Donald) Trump set a frosty tone to the much-anticipated rendezvous” with Modi last week.
This is really bad news for India because it will hit India particularly hard, Mukherjee writes in ‘Indian Markets Feel the Chill in Trump-Modi Ties.’
“From iron, steel and auto parts to pearls, stones and mineral fuels, nine of its top 10 exports to the US would suffer incremental duties of 6 to 24 percentage points,” he writes, quoting economists who “estimate the overall increase in tariff at 7 percentage points”.
This kind of loss of competitiveness will put the rupee under further pressure, writes Mukherjee.
“Reciprocal tariffs won’t kick in before an April 1 review of other countries’ trade practices. That gives Modi time to start negotiating a trade deal, even though it will probably mean making more concessions, such as to Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite broadband service,” he writes.
“Trump is pushing India to buy more US military hardware, including the F-35 warplane. New Delhi has already agreed to change a civil liability law that has held up Westinghouse Electric Co.’s nuclear-power reactors for more than a decade.”
But Trump could ask for more than just lower import tariffs—he could also target subsidies, regulations, VAT, or exchange rates. Selling more US oil and gas could also create issues for India’s balance of payments and energy ambitions.
“At a joint White House news conference with Modi, Trump spoke of new US-India trade routes, connected by ports and railways and passing through Italy and Israel. The revival of the previously proposed India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor, which has seen little progress since its 2023 launch, may be good news for Gautam Adani, Asia’s second-richest businessman,” Mukherjee writes.
But the stock market is yet to be convinced, he adds.
“The ‘Howdy Modi’ era is over. Cordiality remains, but the camaraderie is gone. No matter how big a positive spin either side puts on the talk, the body language should be enough to make India’s jittery market more nervous,” he writes.
(Edited by Sanya Mathur)
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