India Places Its Asian Bet on Japan: Roiling the Waters of the Asia-Pacific
Peter Lee
In a dismaying week for the PRC, India turned away from China...and gave further signals that it is ready to move beyond the narrative of Japanese World War II aggression that has informed China’s Asian diplomacy and anchored the US presence in Asia for over half a century in favor of a view of Japan as a leading and laudable security actor in East Asia. I don’t know if there is a term in the diplomatic lexicon for “deep tongue kiss accompanied by groans of mutual fulfillment”, but if there is, it seems it would be illustrated by the encounter between Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Japanese PM Abe Shinzo in Tokyo on May 27-29, 2013. Singh (left) and Abe in Tokyo Speaking to an assembly of Japanese government and corporate worthies in Tokyo, Singh said: Asia’s resurgence began over a century ago on this island of the Rising Sun. Ever since, Japan has shown us the way forward. India and Japan have a shared vision of a rising Asia. Over the past decade, therefore, our two countries have established a new relationship based on shared values and shared interests. - See more at: http://www.japanfocus.org/-peter-lee/3957#sthash.7FjCVIiH.dpuf
[India Japan] [China confrontation] [US japan alliance] [Japanese remilitarisation] [Strategic incoherence]
Indian elections: democracy reaffirmed?
Aseem Prakash 22 December 2013
The election results which have just come in have been stunning. BJP won thumping majorities in Madhya Pradesh (165/230), Rajasthan (162/199) and a comfortable majority in Chhattisgarh (49/90).
Over the last two weeks, India conducted “semi-finals” for the general (federal) elections scheduled for mid-April 2014. These state-level elections involved 110 million voters. Four of the five states which voted - Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Delhi - are located in central, northern, and western parts of India which account for a large number of seats in the Federal
Parliament.
These elections became a referendum on three critical issues: the leadership of Rahul Gandhi in the Congress party, Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) decision to declare Narendra Modi (NaMo) its Prime Ministerial candidate, and the future of anti-corruption parties in India. Both NaMo and Rahul actively campaigned in these states. NaMo’s rallies drew huge crowds while Rahul’s crowd-pulling abilities were variable.
The rise of NaMo in national politics has jolted Indian politics.
[Modi]
Reimagining India: A conversation with Christopher Graves
The global CEO of Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide discusses the difficulties in simultaneously promoting India as exotic and amazing to tourists, while assuring foreign investors of the country’s stability and potential.
December 2013
Launched in 2002, Ogilvy & Mather’s “Incredible !ndia” marketing campaign—with its now-iconic exclamation mark—increased the size of the country’s tourism industry more than fivefold in barely a decade. Yet as Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide global CEO Christopher Graves explains in this video interview, foreign and portfolio investors aren’t looking for “incredible”; they want a stable and reliable investment climate. What follows is an edited transcript of Graves’s remarks.
Interview transcript
Branding India
When you think about going to the beginnings of a nation’s brand, when it relates to something like discovery and tourism, I like to go back to earlier literature. What did people first say and write about a country when the rest of the world only knew it perhaps through little shards of pottery, or tapestry, or paintings?
[Brand] [Image]
Does India favor US military bases in Afghanistan?
In his testimony before the US senate foreign relations committee in Washington on Tuesday, James Dobbins, special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan claimed that Iran is the solitary exception among Afghanistan’s regional neighbors to oppose the US-Afghan security pact.
He said, “President Putin of Russia, President Xi of China, Prime Minister Singh of India and Prime Minister Sharif of Pakistan have all personally urged President Karzai to conclude the BSA [Bilateral Security Agreement] in recent weeks.”
Therefore, Dobbins concluded, “Given this coincidence of Afghan public and regional governmental opinion, I see little chance that the BSA will not eventually be concluded.” He blamed Karzai for needlessly causing “anxiety.”
Meanwhile, Afghan government has released the text of the BSA. Even a cursory reading shows that the document is of a far-reaching character. To cite an example, it stipulates that the Afghan armed forces should standardize their “equipment, material, facilities, operational doctrine and institutions” so as to achieve “interoperability with NATO. “
[Afghanistan] [SOFA] [Interoperability]
BJP scores 4-0, Congress crushed, AAP stuns Delhi
Sunday, Dec 8, 2013, 22:15 IST | Agency: IANS
In a "semi-final" verdict ahead of the 2014 Lok Sabha election, the BJP Sunday retained Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, snatched Rajasthan from the Congress but was denied a clear win in Delhi by the debutant Aam Aadmi Party's (AAP) spectacular showing.
So humiliating was the Congress rout in three places -- in Chhattisgarh alone it put up a fight -- that a sombre looking Congress president Sonia Gandhi said that the outcome "calls for deep introspection".
"We have to understand to look at the many reasons for this defeat," she said, as leader after leader, looking despondent, sought to argue that the results were no reflection of the national mood.
The victorious Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) disagreed.
BJP MP Smriti Irani said the anti-Congress wave betrayed the popular mood against the party's top leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi.
"This vote is not only due to bad policies, corruption and inflation but also against Sonia and Rahul Gandhi," she said.
[Election]
India Continues to Oppose WTO Deal
The Country's Tough Stance Could Scuttle WTO Talks
Ben Otto
Updated Dec. 5, 2013 3:15 a.m. ET
NUSA DUA, Indonesia—India on Thursday refused to back down in its opposition to a proposed global trade deal, possibly dealing a death blow to World Trade Organization talks that have meandered for years without a conclusion.
Indian Trade Minister Anand Sharma said that India was committed to a positive outcome at the four-day talks, which end Friday, but that "it is better to have no agreement than a bad agreement."
Other nations, including the U.S., have stressed the need for negotiators to agree on a scaled-down package of trade liberalization measures in Bali or risk the WTO losing its significance as a forum for trade talks.
Enlarge Image
India's trade minister Anand Sharma is seen during a news conference at the ninth World Trade Organization Ministerial Conference in Nusa Dua, on the Indonesian resort island of Bali on Dec. 5, 2013. Reuters
The negotiations began 12 years ago in Doha, Qatar, and have been bogged down in fights among the WTO's 159 members countries over the best path to liberalize trade. Two years ago, negotiators dropped a more ambitious pact to cut tariffs on goods and services to focus instead on less-contentious measures, such as streamlining customs procedures.
But they have been unable to reach agreement even on this. India has led the opposition, in part because it is angry over WTO rules that prevent it from moving ahead with a massive food subsidy program. Negotiators had been trying to get India on board by allowing it to break the rules for four years before reducing the subsidies.
India's government, which faces an election next year, appears to be rejecting that compromise.
[WTO] [Agriculture]
Reimagining India: Unlocking the Potential of Asia’s Next Superpower
Simon & Schuster (US) | Executive editors: Clay Chandler and Adil Zainulbhai
India’s rising economy and burgeoning middle class have earned it a place alongside China as one of the world’s indispensable emerging markets. But what is India’s true potential? And what can be done to unlock it?
In Reimagining India: Unlocking the Potential of Asia’s Next Superpower, McKinsey brings together leading thinkers from around the world to explore and debate the challenges and opportunities facing the country. The book’s contributors include CNN’s Fareed Zakaria; Microsoft cofounder Bill Gates; Google chairman Eric Schmidt; Mukesh Ambani, the CEO of India’s largest private conglomerate; Harvard Business School dean Nitin Nohria; and Nandan Nilekani, cofounder of Infosys and chairman of the Unique Identification Authority of India, as well as a host of other leading executives, entrepreneurs, economists, foreign-policy experts, journalists, historians, and cultural luminaries.
As the foreword notes, “While McKinsey consultants have contributed a few essays to this volume, Reimagining India is not the product of a McKinsey study; neither is it meant as a ‘white paper’ nor coherent set of policy proposals. Rather, our aim was to create a platform for others to engage in an open, free-wheeling debate about India’s future.”
The rediscovery of India
Is diversity an excuse for disunity? CNN’s Fareed Zakaria says Indians must embrace their common ambitions if the nation is to fulfill its tremendous potential.
November 2013 | byFareed Zakaria
Is India even a country? It’s not an outlandish question. “India is merely a geographical expression,” Winston Churchill said in exasperation. “It is no more a single country than the Equator.” The founder of Singapore, Lee Kuan Yew, recently echoed that sentiment, arguing that “India is not a real country. Instead it is thirty-two separate nations that happen to be arrayed along the British rail line.”
India gives diversity new meaning. The country contains at least 15 major languages, hundreds of dialects, several major religions, and thousands of tribes, castes, and subcastes. A Tamil-speaking Brahmin from the south shares little with a Sikh from Punjab; each has his own language, religion, ethnicity, tradition, and mode of life. Look at a picture of independent India’s first cabinet and you will see a collection of people, each dressed in regional or religious garb, each with a distinct title that applies only to members of his or her community (Pandit, Sardar, Maulana, Babu, Rajkumari).
Indian troops reach China for joint military exercises
PTI | Nov 4, 2013, 11.52 AM IST
BEIJING: Indian and Chinese armies are all set to hold their third joint military exercises after a gap of five years, as a 150-strong Indian army contingent on Monday arrived in Chengdu city to take part in anti-terrorism drills.
The 10-day drill code named "hand in hand" would be formally inaugurated tomorrow at a designated area close to Chengdu city.
The annual exercises, which began in 2007, are being resumed after a gap of five years.
The first exercises were held in China's Kunming city followed by the second round at Belgaum in Karanataka in 2008.
Mass-destruction weapons: Hypocrisy isn't policy
Thursday, Oct 17, 2013, 8:04 IST | Place: Mumbai | Agency: DNA
Praful Bidwai
Three recent developments highlight the issue of weapons of mass destruction and India’s policy towards them. This year’s Nobel Peace Prize has gone to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), dealing with armaments that figure prominently in the Syrian crisis.
Second, the United Nations General Assembly just held a “high-level meeting” on nuclear disarmament. Although this only produced inane statements, including one by India, it underscored imperative steps towards that goal, including giving effect to the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, and capping and eventually eliminating fissile material stockpiles.
Third, China is reported to be negotiating the construction of two 1,100 MW nuclear power reactors in Pakistan. India has registered protests against this both with Beijing and the 46-nation Nuclear Suppliers’ Group (NSG), a private club that sets the rules of global nuclear commerce without UN authorisation.
All three developments show double standards at work
[Double standards] [Nuclear deal]
Joe Biden visit betrays strain on Indo-US ties
Pramit Pal Chaudhuri , Hindustan Times New Delhi, July 24, 2013
First Published: 01:01 IST(24/7/2013) | Last Updated: 07:36 IST(24/7/2013)
The four-day visit of US vice-president Joe Biden is all about trying to show that the Indo-US relationship is not in as bad a shape as it seems. But Biden himself symbolises how the partnership is under strain, because of both geopolitical differences and economic friction.
US vice president Joe Biden shakes hands with the leader of the opposition Sushma Swaraj during a meeting in New Delhi. AFP
As a senator, Biden was among the strongest supporters of the Indo-US nuclear deal. As a vice-president, he is equally fervent about withdrawing from Afghanistan — even if it means enthroning the Taliban in Kabul. The former policy took Indo-US relations to dizzy heights while the latter is bringing it down to earth with a bump.
[Deal]
India confirms Singh-Sharif meeting on sidelines of UNGA
By Aditi Phadnis
Published: July 7, 2013
A file photo of Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. PHOTO: AFP/FILE
NEW DELHI: Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif will meet on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in September, Indian foreign office sources said.
The Indian government has begun making preparations for the meeting of the two Prime Ministers, and a confirmation had been given to Nawaz Sharif’s envoy Shaharyar Khan who was in Delhi earlier this week.
Singh had skipped the UNGA meetings in 2012, but was expected to go this year. But with India set to go for general elections in May 2014, whether this meeting would pave the way for the much awaited visit of Singh to Pakistan it is still uncertain, analysts said.
Analysts were divided on whether the meeting would result in the revival of the composite dialogue, what structure the dialogue would take and whether the Indian PM would visit before the Indian elections scheduled for May 2014.
The Art of Political Murder
by VIJAY PRASHAD
The iron has gone deep into the soul of West Bengal’s ruling party, the Trinamul Congress. On the morning of June 9, 2013, as he left his home for his morning walk, the Communist leader Dilip Sarkar, age 65, was shot by four “unidentified miscreants,” as the national news agency (UNI) put it. There is little doubt that the hand of guilt will slowly move toward the ruling party, the Trinamul Congress, led by Mamata Banerjee. The murder took place in Burnpur, an industrial city in Asansol district, which is the home of the IISCO steel plant. Sarkar’s political career began there as he rose amongst the ranks in the trade union to become the head of the Steel Workers’ Union. A member of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), CPI-M, Sarkar would represent the interest of workers in West Bengal’s legislature, where he represented the steel workers’ district. His death is a blow to the Left’s resurgence in the area. But it is important to underline that his is the third political murder in the district, after the murder of CPI-M activist and employee at the Lisco steel plant Nirgun Dubey, age 50, in July 2011 in Burnpur, and the murder of CPI-M activist Arpan Mukherjee, age 54, in Burnpur again in May 2012. There is a concerted effort in this belt to wipe out people who have been part of the resurgence of the Left in this area since 2009.
[Assassination]
Suspected Maoist rebels attack convoy carrying members of India’s ruling party, killing 28
Mustafa Quraishi, File/Associated Press - FILE – In this April 15, 2007 file photo, Mahendra Karma, center, lawmaker and founder of Salwa Judum, the government-supported militia to combat Communist rebels known as Naxalites, is surrounded by bodyguards at his residence in Jagdalpur, in the central Indian state of Chattisgarh. Karma was killed when Maoist rebels attacked a convoy of cars of Congress party leaders and supporters in eastern India, injuring several people on Saturday, May 25, 2013. The rebels have been fighting the central government for more than four decades, demanding land and jobs for tenant farmers and the poor.
By Associated Press,
Updated: Sunday, May 26, 8:04 PM
NEW DELHI — Officials reacted with outrage Sunday to an audacious attack by about 200 suspected Maoist rebels who set off a roadside bomb and opened fire on a convoy carrying Indian ruling Congress party leaders and members in an eastern state, killing 28 people and wounding 24 others.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, accompanied by party President Sonia Gandhi, visited the injured in a hospital in the capital of Chhattisgarh state and said the government would take firm action against the perpetrators.
“We are devastated,” said Gandhi, who denounced what she called a “dastardly attack” on the country’s democratic values.
Rajnath Singh, president of opposition Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, said the country should unite in its fight against the Maoist insurgency.
The convoy was attacked Saturday in a densely forested area about 215 miles (345 kilometers) south of Raipur, Chhattisgarh’s capital, as the Congress members were returning from a party rally.
Four state party leaders and five police officers were among those killed. Other victims were party supporters.
Police identified one of those dead as Mahendra Karma, a Congress leader in Chhattisgarh who founded a local militia, the Salwa Judum, to combat the Maoist rebels. The anti-rebel militia had to be reined in after it was accused of atrocities against tribals - indigenous people at the bottom of India’s rigid social ladder.
[Naxalites]
How Well Do China and India Know Each Other?
Not well enough. But there are signs that the two Asian giants have begun taking a stronger interest in each other.
ChinaFileMay 24 2013, 7:30 AM ET
Mark Frazier:
The significance of Li Keqiang's visit to India can be overstated, as is true of any state visit, but I do think that it's a sign of a continued willingness to improve relations with India by putting aside the difficult issues, especially those surrounding the border dispute. The improvement in relations over the past ten years shows that a border dispute, to paraphrase Alexander Wendt, is what states make of it.
What is of greater concern than the border dispute is the fact that in both countries, understandings of each other's history, culture, and much else remain quite shallow among political elites and professionals, to say nothing of the public. Both governments devote ample resources for the training of specialists in general security studies and foreign policy within a handful of top-tier universities and research institutions. Most of these become diplomats or analysts in think-tanks, and few have country-specific training on China or India. This means that only a handful of scholars in China possess a deep knowledge of Indian culture and history, including skills in Hindi and other Indian languages. The same is true for Indian scholars who can speak and read Chinese for their research and who work outside the usual areas of foreign policy and economics.
[China India]
China–India ties: lessons from a Himalayan standoff
May 19th, 2013
Author: Sourabh Gupta, Samuels International
It is remarkable the sort of anxiety that a handful of lightly armed People’s Liberation Army (PLA) soldiers and their dog can educe on a disputed frontier.
Indian protestors of right wing Shiv Sena party burn an effigy and shout slogans against the alleged incursion by Chinese troops into Indian territory, during a protest in New Delhi, India, on 1 May 2013. (Photo: AAP)
On 15 April three dozen or so such soldiers, many miles removed from reinforcement or logistical support, pitched their tents in a demonstrative assertion of presence at a barren — albeit sensitive — frontier point a dozen miles inside what New Delhi considers to be the Line of Actual Control (LAC) on their disputed border. Alarmist commentary immediately latched on to familiar tropes of Chinese assertiveness, territorial revisionism and the need for President Xi to establish his hard-line credentials, among others.
Just as opinion was being softened to contemplate a prolonged occupation along supposedly the most dangerous border in the world, a telephone call from National Security Advisor Shivshankar Menon to his counterpart in Beijing, State Councillor Yang Jiechi, wound down the three-week-long impasse to the satisfaction of both sides. Crisis communications channels institutionalised during a recent warming trend in relations — a foreign ministry director general-level border mechanism, special representatives-level links — functioned as intended. Activation of the prime ministers-level hotline was not required.
[China India] [Territorial disputes] [Counterbalance]
Li: China, India to lead growth
China.org.cn, May 20, 2013
China and India will create new engine of the world economy, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said on Sunday during an official visit to India.
This is Li’s maiden foreign tour after he was elected the premier of the State Council, or China’s cabinet, ealier in March.
"The two countries have the will, wisdom and capability to jointly nurture new bright spots in cooperation among Asian countries, create new engine of the world economy, provide huge growth potential and market demand for Asia and the world, and push forward China-India strategic cooperative partnership for peace and prosperity," Li said at a smaller meeting with his Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh.
"I want this visit to show the whole world that the mutual political trust between China and India is rising, practical cooperation is expanding and there are more common interests than differences," said Li.
[China India]
Activists bristle as India cracks down on foreign funding of NGOs
By Rama Lakshmi,
Monday, May 20, 1:44 PM E-mail the writer
NEW DELHI — Amid an intensifying crackdown on nongovernmental groups that receive foreign funding, Indian activists are accusing the government of stifling their right to dissent in the world’s largest democracy.
India has tightened the rules on nongovernmental organizations over the past two years, following protests that delayed several important industrial projects. About a dozen NGOs that the government said engaged in activities that harm the public interest have seen their permission to receive foreign donations revoked, as have nearly 4,000 small NGOs for what officials said was inadequate compliance with reporting requirements.
The government stepped up its campaign this month, suspending the permission that Indian Social Action Forum (INSAF), a network of more than 700 NGOs across India, had to receive foreign funds. Groups in the network campaign for indigenous peoples’ rights over their mineral-rich land and against nuclear energy, human rights violations and religious fundamentalism; nearly 90 percent of the network’s funding comes from overseas.
[NGO][Outsourcing]
Bordering on closeness
By Tim Collard China.org.cn, May 17, 2013
New Chinese Premier Li Keqiang is about to set off on his first foreign visit since taking office. Where is he going? The USA? Russia? Japan? No, his destination is India. Ma Jiali, an India expert at the China Institute of Contemporary International Relations, has pointed out that this is "a complete break with normal protocol, demonstrating the importance China attaches to relations with India". It's certainly unexpected. What lies behind this?
On the face of it, China and India occupy broadly similar positions in today's world, and one might almost expect them to be rivals. Both are rapidly developing nations in the same global region and both have huge populations. There are significant differences, though; the size of China's economy gives her, whether she seeks it or not, a major geopolitical role in the 21st century, which India, although now also a nuclear nation, has not yet attained. In addition, their patterns of development have been different; China was held down for a long time by war and politics but has experienced explosive development over the last thirty years, whereas India has developed more slowly and steadily, being held back by ingrained bureaucracy and the weight of historic custom, neither of which are conducive to rapid change. Having said that, both face similar obstacles to development in the form of corruption and deep-rooted vested interests and both are essentially travelling in the same direction – breaking through from low-technology cheap-labor workshop to technological powerhouse.
[China India]
Why China's influence on Nepal worries India
By Rajesh Joshi
BBC Hindi, Kathmandu
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Nepal and China's growing trade Watch
New roads bring change to Nepal
Nepal country profile
As the instructor enters the classroom in Kathmandu, students rise from their seats and collectively greet him in Mandarin Chinese - "Ni hao! (Hello!)".
Each morning this group of about 20 boys and girls gather in a dingy, two-room flat above shops in a crowded Kathmandu market to learn Chinese. They are convinced that learning the new language will open up job opportunities.
"Over a billion people live in China, and even if just 1% of them visit Nepal every year, we will get a lot of employment," said student Raju Shreshtha, who wants to work as a tour guide.
A number of private institutions offering Chinese lessons have sprung up in the past few years in Nepal, a country sandwiched between the two Asian powers of India and China.
[China India competition]
Bangalore’s reality lags behind image
By Rama Lakshmi,
BANGALORE, India — Two decades ago, this bustling melting pot was an advertisement for a new, confident India. Bangalore’s young, unapologetically cosmopolitan, English-speaking workforce drove India’s economic rise and put the city on the global map, making it synonymous with the country’s information technology revolution.
“The sheen is off Brand Bangalore,” the Headlines Today television channel said this month in a report about the city.
The problem here, as in many other Indian cities, is a booming population whose needs far exceed the infrastructure and civic amenities.
Such troubles are likely to worsen. By 2030, more than 600 million Indians will live in cities, compared with 350 million today. But unlike China, which undertakes urban infrastructure improvements ahead of anticipated growth, Indian cities are always several steps behind.
[Infrastructure] [Governance]
India's rice revolution: Chinese scientist questions massive harvests
Revelations in last week's Observer Food Monthly have created controversy over the truth of record yields
John Vidal
The Observer, Saturday 23 February 2013 12.06 GMT
Jump to comments (35)
People work on a rice field in Nalanda district, Bihar, India, where world record yields are said to have been achieved. Photograph: Chiara Goia/Observer Food Monthly
China's leading rice scientist has questioned India's claims of a world record harvest, following a report in last week's Observer of astonishing yields achieved by farmers growing the crop in the state of Bihar.
Professor Yuan Longping, known as the "father of rice", said he doubted whether the Indian government had properly verified young Indian farmer Sumant Kumar's claim that he had produced 22.4 tonnes of rice from one hectare of land in Bihar in 2011.
Yuan, director-general of China's national rice research centre and holder of the previous record of 19.4 tonnes a hectare, asked: "How could the Indian government have confirmed the number after the harvesting was already done?"
The dispute centres on a controversial method of growing rice that is spreading quickly in Asia. System of Rice Intensification (SRI) uses fewer seeds and less water, but seeks to stimulate the roots of young plants, mainly with organic manures. It can work with all kinds of seeds, including GM, and has the effect of getting plants to grow larger, healthier root systems.
[SRI]
When did India Become Part of Israel’s Stable?
by DR. PAUL LARUDEE
Amazing stuff, India ink. A few drops spread vigorously with a roller for several minutes on an iron plate are enough for eight sets of fingerprints and two sets of handprints on four ancient double-sided and folded Indian police fingerprint forms. By contrast, the mug shot was taken with a digital camera. After that, I was issued an official deportation order, for which I signed to acknowledge receipt. My passport remained in police custody until I got to the security check at the airport, when it was returned to me.
My crime? I had spoken to an audience of 22,000 youth at a Student Islamic Organization conference in Kerala State without having a visa that authorized public speaking or conference participation. India is perhaps the only “democracy” where free speech for foreigners depends upon the visa they are carrying. In fact, it is probably the only such country that has no visit visa category at all, and which has one of the most convoluted, bureaucratic and invasive visa application procedures this side of North Korea.(sic)
[Mis-support]
The Indian economy: a rough 2012 but tougher 2013
December 25th, 2012
Author: Pravakar Sahoo, IEG
In economic terms, 2012 has been a remarkable year for the Indian economy.
The year started in the shadow of the policy reversal on FDI in multi-brand ownership, followed by a working budget without major policy reforms and concrete steps to control fiscal deficit, subsidies and tapering growth. Instead of bringing clarity and policy direction to private investment, which had been slowing since early 2011, the 2011–12 budget proposed to amend the 1961 income tax law so as to retrospectively tax overseas transactions of Indian assets, thereby creating fear in foreign investors and uncertainty in mergers and acquisitions activity. The lack of government political will to carry out reforms, the slowdown in growth owing to the looming European crisis and tight monetary policy, policy reversals, and the downgrading of the Indian economic outlook from ‘stable’ to ‘negative’ by major rating agencies, has all led to continued downward pressure on the investment climate. Both domestic and foreign investment, which was already on the downturn in 2011, has further declined in 2012. The Indian economy, which is driven by the service sector, private enterprise and domestic demand, is expected to face its lowest growth in ten years.