Will India ever catch up with China?

Q:  Is it true that India will never catch up with China?

A:

Yes. The only idea of catching up with China is problematic. If a country's leader does not focus on improving the living standard of its people, but focuses on aiming at a foreign country, he or she will be doomed to fail.

The idea of catching up with China is not a bad idea. Aiming high is good. But Indian’s strategy is trying to sabotage China’s economy to reach this goal. India tries to ally with Japan and the US to contain China, and tries to put wedges between China and Russia and other Chinese neighbors. That kind of “catching up with China” will exhaust Indian resources on geopolitical issues, other than to make India prosperous and strong.

Both India and China were victims of the imperial powers for centuries. Yet India today is colluding with imperialist powers to contain China. That’s the wrong strategy to “catch up with China”.

Making China collapse fulfills the goal of “catching up with China”. But that doesn’t help Indian people to improve their living standards.

Although both India and China were victims of the imperialist powers in the past, China remembers the past and resists the interference and dominance from the imperialist powers, while India worships the former colonizers and is proud that it was once a colony of imperialist powers. How can India catch up with China, given that China has surpassed many Western countries in various areas?

China has Mao, and India has Gandhi. Mao rebelled against the imperialist power, and Gandhi legitimized Western domination. That’s why China is looking forward to a bright future, and India is living in the past mentally. Gandhi’s non-violent movement acquiesced the monopoly of violence by the colonizers. Gandhi had no problem with the monopoly of violence by the imperialist powers.

India got independence in 1947, while China got independence in 1949, almost at the same time. After independence, China is a new China, while India is still an old India. China gained independence through revolution, while India gained independence by inheriting the colonial system. India is the same as the old India in society and the political system. The colonial system was designed to serve a power, not the Indian people. Yet India glorifies the colonial system as “democracy” and demonizes the New China as “authoritarian”. Catching up with Chian with the old system? Good luck.