‘Indeed, a major power’: China’s Global Times article praises India’s strides under PM Modi
India’s domestic and foreign situation has changed tremendously compared to four years ago and it has achieved outstanding results in economic development and social governance, said an article published in China’s state-run Global Times.
The article authored by Zhang Jiadong, director of the Center for South Asian Studies at Fudan University, said India has made great achievements in economic development and its economy has gained momentum and is on track to becoming one of the fastest-growing major economies.
Jiadong said he recently visited India twice, marking his first visit in four years. During the talk with Indian representatives, he said, their attitude toward Chinese scholars was more relaxed and moderate, instead of being stubborn at times. With its rapid economic and social development, he said, India has become more strategically confident and more proactive in creating and developing a “Bharat narrative”.
In the diplomatic sphere, the author found, India has rapidly shifted toward a great power strategy. Jiadong said since Prime Minister Narendra Modi assumed power, he has advocated for a multi-alignment strategy, promoting India’s relations with the US, Japan, Russia, and other countries. “Now, India’s strategic thinking in foreign policy has undergone another change and is clearly moving toward a great power strategy,” he said.
The Chinese professor noted India’s stand on the Russia-Ukraine conflict and said New Delhi has distanced itself from the West and aligned itself more closely to the developing world. At the same time, he said, India’s reservations about Western powers have significantly diminished, and its activities within Western countries have become more frequent, extending beyond organising large-scale diaspora events.
Jiadong referred to the country’s first “Knowledge India Visitors Programme”, which was organised by the Indian Council for Cultural Relations in December 2023. The programme brought together more than 77 scholars from 35 countries. During the programme, he said, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar emphasised the importance of building a strong “Bharat narrative” and explained the “Bharat narrative” in terms of economics, development, politics, and culture.
The professor said India no longer only regards cultural tradition as a channel to achieve its own interests or as a symbol to attract foreign tourists, but also sees it as one of the pillars of India’s status as a great power. He said India has always considered itself a world power, but it has only been less than 10 years since New Delhi shifted from multi-balancing to multi-alignment, “and now it is rapidly transforming toward a strategy of becoming a pole in the multipolar world”.
Jiadong said that India is indeed a major power, and rapid changes in internal and external strategies pose challenges to both itself and the international community. “It appears that a transformed, stronger, and more assertive India has become a new geopolitical factor that many countries need to consider,” the author said in his concluding point.
(Businesstoday)
