While the Narendra Modi government has attracted criticism for the way it is handling India-US relationship, it is now possible to discern the faint outlines of a new template for foreign and trade policy.
After exuberance, India must now not only take difficult and costly steps toward industrialisation, but also convert growth into geo-economic leverage and military modernisation.
Indian power projection and influence will greatly depend on the choices of small powers — or partner countries — that exercise great agency despite power asymmetries.
GDP measures only the size of an economy. India’s economy must have more depth, more domestic industries, and faster income growth at the bottom, as China has achieved.
A sound tax system is one based on the ability to pay or economic surplus. But the STT taxes the circulation of capital and not its returns, making it deeply distortionary.
Exporters said the Budget’s proposals to increase duty-free import limits on processing, create 500 reservoirs and support fisheries startups will boost the marine industry.
With recruitments under Agnipath set to rise, the Union Budget has significantly increased spending, with the Army taking nearly 87% of the total outlay.
The key to fighting a war successfully, or even launching it, is a clear objective. That’s an entirely political call. It isn’t emotional or purely military.
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