Dear ST reader,
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2014 launched the ‘Make in India’ campaign to boost domestic manufacturing. But the ambitious goal of pushing the share of manufacturing to 25 per cent of gross domestic product by 2022 was not met, and the new deadline is now 2025.
Can India eventually surpass China and become the world’s biggest factory? It is looking to capitalise on the shift away from China as companies diversify their global supply chains. Some economists estimate India’s window of opportunity will be open for up to 10 years.
Chinese President Xi Jinping meanwhile has come up with his latest catchphrase – “new productive forces” – which received top billing at the country’s annual parliamentary and top advisory body meetings that ended earlier this week. But will the new slogan move the needle in a meaningful manner and create new growth drivers amid a slowing economy?
Well, whoever wins the US presidential election on Nov 5 is expected to continue to drive a tough China policy, including imposing trade and technology curbs. President Joe Biden and his predecessor Donald Trump will face each other for a second time, and Trump’s America First approach to foreign policy and trade may just make a comeback.
Besides slogans and catchphrases, Associate Editor & Senior Columnist Ravi Velloor has thrown up the idea of embracing the concept of “West Asia”. That, he says, will make the Israel-Hamas war a very Asian war.
He also notes that the Asian growth story is decidedly shifting, and the biggest momentum is to our West – to India, and beyond to south-west Asia.
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