New Delhi, June 12 (IANS) India’s steady economic ascent supported by sustained growth, a young population and resilient democratic institutions is poised to challenge the notion that authoritarianism is a necessary shortcut to rapid development, a new report has said.

The report from India Narrative said that India’s consistent growth trajectory refutes long‑standing assumptions that political repression is required to build modern industrial and technological capacity.

India’s arrival as a great power without dominion over others, “may be the most radical idea of the twenty-first century,” it noted.

India, on track to become the world’s third‑largest economy by the end of the decade had no colonies, made no invasions of foreign territory and is in stark contrast with other historical power rises such as the US, Europe or China.

The United States and Europe built influence through conquest, coercion and China’s growth occurred under an authoritarian model.

“The Soviet Union exported revolution at gunpoint. China’s extraordinary economic ascent was underwritten by a Communist Party that tolerated no dissent and no democracy,” the report noted.

“Students of history know that great power ascents are never clean. They recall the famines that killed millions in China in the 1960s and 1970s, the abject poverty of Shenzhen before Deng Xiaoping’s reforms, the Great Depression that sent American traders leaping from Wall Street windows,” it reminded.

India’s GDP growth at 6.5 per cent despite global volatility, the country’s demographic advantages and durable institutions are structural advantages.

An independent judiciary, a pluralistic press and a strong opposition will not offer a shortcut to global top spot but such factors can support long‑term expansion.

The media house also mentioned bureaucratic red tape, corruption and widespread poverty as challenges to overcome to sustain strong economic growth.

Nevertheless, the report said that India’s rise offers a “proof of concept” defying popular school of thought in international affairs that democracy is a luxury that developing nations cannot afford.

—IANS

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