Global Agenda Council on India 2011

As the largest free market democracy in the world, India is a model for many emerging economies. However, while the world expects a lot from India, the country is letting down its own citizens. Its human development parameters are among the worst in the world and the country suffers from inadequate governance and the ineffective application of its ideas.

India is faced with considerable internal and regional security challenges. Inequality of opportunities has led to a deterioration of internal security with an alarming rise of Naxalite-Maoist insurgencies across 182 districts.  The Prime Minister has described the attendant violence as the biggest internal security challenge India has ever faced.  Along with India’s internal security threats are its fragile neighbours such as Nepal and Pakistan as well as its conflicted relationships within South Asia.  The Council believes that India can exert greater regional and global influence if it undertakes significant public sector reforms and upgrades infrastructure to improve human development and regional economic prosperity.