China’s Global Times praises India’s growth

Paradigm Shift

• Global Times observes several factors
• India escaped from historical colonial shadow
• And now acting as a world mentor, both politically and culturally
• More emphasis on Indian origins of democratic politics

New Delhi: India has become more strategically confident and proactive in creating and developing a Bharat narrative, an article in China’s Global Times said, praising India’s significant strides in the spheres of economic, social governance and foreign policy under Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Global Times, a prominent state-run Chinese media outlet, has published the article penned by Zhang Jiadong, the director of the Center for South Asian Studies at Fudan University, Shanghai, that highlights India’s remarkable achievements over the past four years. It acknowledges India’s robust economic growth, improvements in urban governance, and a shift in attitude towards international relations, notably with China.

“For example, when discussing the trade imbalance between China and India, Indian representatives earlier used to primarily focus on China’s measures to reduce the trade imbalance. But now, they are placing more emphasis on India’s export potential,” Zhang said in the article.

The article said that with its rapid economic and social development, India has become more strategically confident and more proactive in creating and developing a ‘Bharat narrative’.

“In the political and cultural spheres, India has moved from emphasising its democratic consensus with the West to highlighting the ‘Indian feature’ of democratic politics. Currently, there is even more emphasis on the Indian origins of democratic politics,” the article published on January 2 said.

This shift, the author asserted, reflects India’s ambition to escape its historical colonial shadow and act as a world mentor, both politically and culturally.