Author: Press Trust of India
Publication: www.expressindia.com
Date: March 6, 2004
URL: http://www.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=29056&headline=India~truly~shining~after~56~years~of~Independence:~China
The controversial 'India Shining'
campaign of the Indian Government found a supporter from an unexpected
ally - a state Chinese business weekly.
"India now basks in the most 'shining
era' in the 56years since it became independent from Britain," the state-run
China Business Weekly said in its latest issue which focused on India's
recent rise as an emerging economic power.
The Indian economy never had it
so good in recent history, benefiting from a good monsoon, Gross Domestic
Product (GDP) growth projections at eight per cent, foreign exchange reserves
at 100 billion us dollars plus.
The country experienced moderate
inflation, rising corporate sales and profits and consumers spending like
never before with housing, car and higher education loans cheaper than
any time in living memory, the article "India: a blockbuster in the making"
noted.
"Has the Indian economy ever had
it so good? By these parameters, never," said Sun Peijun, professor at
the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS).
"India is truly on the fast development
track," Sun, also President of Chinese Association of South Asian studies
said.
His views were supported by W Anthony
Stewart, with Jones Day, a Dallas, Texas-based international law firm,
who said that India will continue to grow at a faster pace over the next
several years.
Despite different opinions on the
causes of India's economic rise, one consensus among experts here is that
the economic success is a direct result of reforms that was initiated in
1991.
"The Indian people, like the Chinese
people, have always been talented, hardworking and creative. But this has
not always resulted in material progress," Stewart, who practised law for
eight years in Hong Kong and understood the legal structures of both India
and China, said.
"In India, I think the improvement
is a result of finally weakening the 'license raj' that stifled most progress,"
Stewart said.
"Perhaps the change is similar to
(late Chinese leader) Deng Xiaoping's role in promoting the socialist market
economy in China," he said.
Before the reform, the 'license
raj' system had held back talented people for generations, he said.
Hua Biyun, professor with the China
Institute of Contemporary International Relations (CICIR) commented that
the long-buoyant private sector is a major driving force behind India's
economic take-off.
Conglomerates like Tata and Reliance
play a significant role in driving the Indian economy, Hua said, adding
there was no similar example in China.
