Issue 45 - December 2010 - We need Reforms 2.0

[Pragati - The Indian National Interest Review]

Dear reader,

The exposure of a series of high profile scandals in recent weeks is the clearest reminder yet that Indian governance has fallen so far behind the Indian economy that there is a serious risk that it will extinguish prospects of the nation’s development. It will also undermine India’s geopolitical influence.

A growing India therefore faces a faster-growing governance gap, causing our problems to scale faster than the attempted solutions. This is so because the first generation economic reforms — launched by the P V Narasimha Rao government and extended by the Atal Behari Vajpayee government — have run their course. All the low-hanging fruit have been picked. The nearly double-digit economic growth that we are experiencing today are the rewards of good policies of the previous decade. Unless India acts now to liberalise its economy, we will be punished for the follies of the current, wasted decade.

We need Reform 2.0 -- that's our cover feature this month.

This month's Pragati also discusses India's growing engagement with East Asia, the implications of sitting at the UN Security Council and the India-US bilateral relationship.

It's been ten years since Irom Chanu Sharmila, a resolute Indian citizen, went on a fast protesting against the application of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act in Manipur. We salute her by calling for a careful withdrawal of the Act. 

Download your issue here : you'll also find all the articles online at http://pragati.nationalinterest.in

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best regards

The Pragati team

Pragati - The Indian National Interest Review

Issue 45 - December 2010

Highlights

We need Reforms 2.0 The urgent neef for minimum government, maximum governance Nitin Pai

Engaging the East Scaling up economic diplomacy in the Asia-Pacific Mukul G Asher

Perspective

Where are the second-generation reforms? The unfinished economic agenda could be a political winner Vivek H Dehejia

Why the Right must embrace Ambedkar Constitutionalism is the modern day dharma Shashi Shekhar

A crown of thorns It's too early for India to sit at the UNSC Sushant K Singh

Heeding Irom Sharmila's argument The case for careful withdrawal of the AFSPA Bibhu Prasad Routray

Roundup

A case for co-operation Why India should sign defence interoperability agreements with the United States K Subrahmanyam

Ranking bilateral relationships A multi-dimensional Bilateral Relationship Index would place the United States at the top Sanjaya Baru

The democratic dividend in counter-insurgency The Soviets lost in Afghanistan because their system couldn't handle it Dhruva Jaishankar

The den in Yemen Al Qaeda's resurgence on the Arabian peninsula Rohan Joshi

Books 

Rethinking foreign aid Throwing money at the problem isn't the solution Arundhati Sampath

Briefs

Pareto  Amol Agrawal

In Parliament Judging the Judges M R Madhavan

Pragati - The Indian National Interest Review is a publication of The Takshashila Institution, an independent networked think tank on India's strategic affairs. http://takshashila.org.in. This is a digital community edition. You are encouraged to share it with your friends & colleagues.