Fareed Zakaria in Newsweek:
“One can date precisely China’s debut as a great power. It was the evening of 8 August 2008—the opening ceremonies of the Beijing Olympics. We might look back a few years from now and date India’s coming-out party to 18 May 2009, the day its most recent election results were announced….
“Over the past two decades, India has been consumed by its internal divisions: of caste, ethnicity and religion. This has made it difficult for the government in New Delhi to mobilize national power to any purposeful end in global affairs. A decentralized and divided polity has punched well below its weight internationally. That’s bad for India and bad for the world. This could all change now. For the first time in three decades, a single party—the Indian National Congress— was given a clear and broad mandate.”
Read the full article: India’s giant coming-out party
Tags: Beijing Olympics, China, Churumuri, Fareed Zakaria, General Elections 2009, India, Indian Elections, Newsweek, Sans Serif
25 May 2009 at 4:10 pm
How cynical can we get than this?
25 May 2009 at 4:57 pm
Wasn’t the Indian election results announced on May 16, 2009?
25 May 2009 at 5:42 pm
Very true- with a external affairs minister who was reprimanded by the Karnataka High Court for not being able to handle a forest brigand. We will surely take our predestined place in the Comity of Nations !
25 May 2009 at 6:40 pm
Apparently you can be spectacularly ill-informed, silly and be an expert on Newsweek.
25 May 2009 at 8:11 pm
Nice one, Alok!
25 May 2009 at 8:13 pm
Congress has been at the helm for 90% of the time since our country got independence. When all they managed to do was to plunge the country into the mess it is today, expecting that now they will do something remarkable is ludicrous.
25 May 2009 at 9:44 pm
Welcome back, Gaby!
Somnalli Kitta is any day better than ‘translation-requiring’ Pronob Mookhorji !! In fact World leaders have been heard saying, “At least we will all know what India’s Foreign policies are…With the Bengali fellow we had no clue!” Sonia gets my love and affection for a few more years.
Beware Smnalli Kiita, Tharoor side-wings nalli wait madthaa avne! Swalpa neevu Siddharthandu deal ‘gee;’ maddhey India ‘maana kapadbeju’
25 May 2009 at 10:06 pm
Wonder where he gets the fact from!! Most decisive mandate in 3 decades?? What was 1984 about???
As usual take this guy with a Pinch of salt.
26 May 2009 at 12:04 am
ಕನ್ನಡಿಗ:
Political Parties change, unlike Human beings. It is all about people leading the parties, rather than party itself.
You can’t hang a Son (or a Daughter) for the sins of the father (or grandmother).
26 May 2009 at 8:25 am
“We might look back a few years from now and date India’s coming-out party to 18 May 2009, the day its most recent election results were announced….”
We might look back a few years from now and date Fareed Zakaria’s descent into dumbed-down inanities to 23 May 2009, the day this speech was given….
26 May 2009 at 12:02 pm
LOL Goldstar! Classic…
26 May 2009 at 12:12 pm
India’s debut as a superpower can be dated from Pokhran 2 – 11th May 1998. The was the day when the Buddha smiled again after 1974. The whole political equation of south asia and the way the NATO countries viewed India changed from that day.
26 May 2009 at 9:58 pm
I remember listening to Fareed Zakaria in NYC. He spoke of NYC as “my City” Oh I said to myself…then went on lambasting America all the while forgetting this is where he earns his living and then he spoke some liberal half truths to make Americans feel better about themselves….All I can say is that I thought looking around at Americans listening intently to him that day… that they are a very gracious peoples indeed….
27 May 2009 at 12:17 am
Larissa, sweetheart perhaps the NYC crowd was pretending to listen to his crap which would still make them gracious people- at least those in the crowd that day- but Mr Zakaria seems to be speaking crap long before 23.05.09.
29 May 2009 at 1:49 pm
http://suhanasafarwithme.blogspot.com/2009/05/is-it-indicator-of-change.html
29 May 2009 at 9:27 pm
DB–
“Mookerjia kanosugoLu?”
30 May 2009 at 1:06 am
Well DB, Somnalli Kitta might not need a interpreter but will he have the brains to deal with an expansionist China. imploding Pakistan, spineless Europe and clueless America. I am not saying Muukarjii has it or anybody else for that matter. Come to think of it what’s with your soft corner for Kittappa!!!:)
31 May 2009 at 8:25 am
Somnalli Kitta will have enough brains to deal with all the countries and the continent you mentioned. But he has to be careful with Shashi Tharoor being his junior in the ministry. Somnalli Kitta has his blemishes but he is from the same county:)
3 June 2009 at 11:25 am
“The date of India’s debut as a great power” – yes indeed. We will be called great power, super power, super natural power what so ever… but, are are deserving it?
1. Couple of trains burnt in Punjab as post effect of somebody started fight in Austria.
2. Three trains burnt in Bihar, as there was a plan to cut the number of trains.
3. Our government can’t follow up issues on international terrorism or any other security issues with foreign countries., may it be Pakistan or Australia.
Many more will come in future.