As an Indian I believe it is foolish to believe that we in India have surmounted all the hurdles in our growth path.
MUMBAI: I write with reference to Hassaan Khan’s article “Wake up and smell the failure” (November 15). As an Indian I believe it is foolish to believe that we in India have surmounted all the hurdles in our growth path. We have made progress for sure but we do have many problems on all fronts.
The growth experienced by India since the 1990s, when the Indian government embarked on a series of policy initiatives to open up and reform the economy, has achieved enough momentum of its own for the middles classes to experience a rise in their standard of living, without any government support. This in turn has helped the Indian government to focus on welfare and development projects and this then helps lift those living in poverty.
I think Pakistan has a lesson here to learn from India since most of its problems are similar to ours — and hence the path to prosperity for Pakistan cannot be very different from that of India’s. What Pakistan desperately needs is to give up nurturing extremist groups.
MK Devarajan
Published in The Express Tribune, November 21st, 2010.
