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L&T’s production process optimizes the Internet of Things (IoT). They employ cutting edge technology at all levels. In the case of the water project, they did a helicopter LiDAR survey and a drone survey for mapping an area-including every ravine, pit, waterfall, river, rivulet, temple, and stone-spanning 5,000 to 6,000 square kilometres. The route optimization saved 6,000 tonnes of steel. The resulting profit was immense, because of the advanced technology.

A business ecosystem includes suppliers and buyers. L&T’s green ecosystem will force its suppliers (the cement and steel companies) and their buyers (micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises) to adopt green measures.

In spite of our differences with India, this is a laudable step. In the US, and the western world at large, corporate power has allowed corporate greed to endanger the planet. India’s plans signal a very positive trend, which can greatly address the climate change crisis. As we discuss India’s economic rise, it’s crucial to point out that

poverty and income disparity remains a challenge for India. Classism and the caste system remain the real impediments to even growth and national progress.

The Indian contiguous states of Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Telangana, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Naidu, are the regions where economic activity is concentrated. These states are located in central and south India. They are far removed from the geopolitical hotspots of Kashmir, and Nagaland located on India’s eastern and western borders respectively.

Border disputes are common everywhere. Progressive nations solve these issues to enable economic growth. Malaysia resolved its water dispute with Singapore early on in its quest for economic progress. The Arab states have pretty much given up on Palestine, and are actively seeking economic and cultural ties with Israel. The US is wary of war, after 20 years of the war on terror. Russia, which has declared war due to border disputes, is being heavily sanctioned and is finding itself economically crippled. According to the IMF, the Indian economy in 2021 was worth $3.04 trillion, being the sixth-largest economy. With its average annual GDP growth rate of 5.8 per cent over the past two decades, India is one of the world’s fastest-growing economies. It aims to become a $5 trillion economy before 2030. Europe is courting India, as was evident by the warm reception of PM Modi in Europe. Arab states are also forging close ties with India.

Pakistan’s obsession with Kashmir is counter-productive, hence. Discretion is the better part of valour. Reason, and not emotion, should be the cornerstone of Pakistan’s foreign policy. This is in spite of the group Genocide Watch issuing a warning that it anticipates a genocide in India, perpetrated not by the state but by mobs. The Human Rights Watch group has said that India has already adopted laws that systematically discriminate against Muslims and prejudice has infiltrated independent institutions like the police and the judiciary. Kashmir is only a part of the greater issue of the Indian state persecuting its Muslim citizens. The present time is a very inopportune moment to raise the Kashmir issue. It would do more harm than good to the Kashmir cause if we raise this issue at a time when India is making many new friends in the world and it can do no wrong in their eyes. It would be akin to being invited to a social gathering and ruining the ambience by talking shop.

Reason, and not emotion, should be the cornerstone of Pakistan’s foreign policy.

Modi’s Fascism and the humanitarian crisis of Kashmir are of no consequence to its partners in QUAD (the US, Japan and Australia) and the western world at large. World powers could not care less about a persecuted minority.

QUAD is a very good indicator of the US’s stance on India, which is a bellwether of trends in the pan-European zone. Not only does it educate us on what but also on why.

QUAD started by focusing on vaccine diplomacy by India, to counter China’s vaccine diplomacy. This was made possible by India’s pharma industry. The next quotient is climate change, which is the best fit for India, due to reasons highlighted earlier. Finally, QUAD is focused on “emerging technologies,” which is a broad but vague term. Here too, India’s core competency in the IT field and the IoT posits it as a worthy partner. Concerns about surveillance capitalism by China in AI ecosystems have spurred this dimension.

The US needs India, Japan and Australia as QUAD allies against China, to retain the US’ dominance in the strategic sea routes of the Indo-pacific region.

India’s importance additionally lies in the fact that it supplies the missing pieces of the Jigsaw puzzle of the US and the western world at large. India’s sectors of significance are agriculture, IT, clean energy, automotive, Bollywood, and pharmaceuticals. All of these perfectly cater to western needs and interests. In each of these sectors, it compliments the US and does not threaten US interests. The US outsources IT to India while maintaining a hold over the high tech industry with Google, Meta, Twitter, Instagram, Whatsapp, Youtube, Microsoft and Apple. India does not have a single competitive platform to rival these corporations. It is a supplier of highly skilled professionals, and not a business rival. On the other hand, China with its tremendous progress in AI, and its giant corporations such as Huawei, is a threat to the US hegemony.

Mughal India accounted for 20% of the world’s GDP mainly due to its spice trade. British colonialism and the Green Revolution of the 1960s made India poverty-stricken and food insecure. The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World (SOFI) 2019 report shows that India retains the dubious distinction of being the country with the largest population of food-insecure people. The UN estimates the number to be 195 million people. The Indian agricultural sector’s main aim should be to achieve food security and eradicate hunger and malnutrition. However, due to corruption and bad policies, Indian crops are being exported. India has serious supply chain issues and other challenges. It is far from being a contender in the global agricultural market. It also lacks the clout of the US and the other members of the G-8, especially France. Archer Daniels Midland (ADM), Bunge, Cargill and Louis Dreyfus, collectively known as the ABCD traders, control as much as 90 per cent of the global grain trade. Given that three out of four are US corporations, this allows the US to dominate the world’s food supply. Russia and China’s rising role in agriculture and the creation of BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) was a threat to the US. QUAD mitigates that threat to a great degree, as India’s new alliance with the US, will likely lead to inertia in BRICS.

The US automobile industry shrunk after the oil shock of the 1970s. Emerging technologies such as Google’s self-driving car are the future. India, despite being a large car maker, is not a threat since the future belongs to the US, due to American tech giants. The Indian pharma industry operates in the low-end market segment of generic drugs, which is not of interest to the US. India serves the US interest by giving competition to China. Seven of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies-known as Big Pharma-are American. Big Pharma in the US on average spends about 20 per cent of all its sales revenue on research and Development (R&D). Only the aviation and space industry is more R&D intensive than the pharma industry. Pharma companies hold patents – which are licenses guaranteeing their “intellectual property” rights – on new medicines for 20 years. This makes them legal monopolies. The US National Institute of Health (NIH) grants funding for research in university and government labs to the tune of $33 billion per year. The US is hence light years ahead of India in the pharma sector.

(To Be Continued)

The writer is an independent researcher, author and columnist. She can be reached at aliya1924@gmail.com.