From the September issue: “My dear countrymen, the world has changed,” India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi told a crowd of thousands last August. “Now India cannot decide its future by remaining isolated and sitting alone in a corner.”
The remarks — made in a speech by the newly elected leader on India’s independence day roughly a year ago — echoed the widespread hope that his reformist government can overcome decades of poverty and stagnation and turn the South Asian behemoth into a global economic force to rival China. [more]