Will Rising India Join The West?

Sustained high economic growth rates, averaging around 8 percent in the first decade of the 21st century, had made India one of the top economies in the world. With current GDP at over US$1 trillion and per capita income at over $1,200, India was then the world’s 11th largest economy. In purchasing power parity (PPP) terms, India put itself in the top five.

India’s impressive performance during the economic crisis and its national plans to grow at 9 percent in the coming years meant India’s relative weight in the international system would continue to grow steadily. The economic slowdown in the West and the prospect of China’s growth rate decelerating to single digits might well make India the fastest growing economy in the world in the not-too-distant future.