'The Second New Superpower'

How have the reforms progressed in India?

Progress is considerable. India's situation has improved tremendously in WEF's surveys and will be reflected in this year's Global Competitive Report.

But the frequent changes in government must have affected economy.

The fundamental direction of reforms has been the same though there have been different interpretations on economic policies. But political instability is always bad and particularly so for a fast-developing country like India. For the next six months, there will be no government and thus not much activity in the economy. Today's world is fast moving; a month is equivalent to 12 months 20 years ago. It's a huge delay when India is set for a take-off and it does not give a very good signal to the world.

And even the coming elections may end up producing only another coalition government...

But India is not alone in this. Various parties around the world have realised that entrepreneurship is at the centre of economic progress which is essential for social progress. The general principle and framework of action are now the same for all quarters. The differences are only in terms of perceptions of the same necessities and in distribution of attention to specific policies. The other thing happening in India, as around the world, is that regional—not national—governments have started becoming more important as the action and power gradually shifts worldwide to regional levels as matters at the central level are getting more and more politicised.

What is the world's current perception of the Indian economy?

Companies already doing business in India see it as a country on the move. They have no regrets. However, there is some problem with companies who have not yet invested in India and have no direct experience of India. Now every country has its own style of functioning and India is no different. These companies are extra-critical, which may not be fully justified. The third category is the general public in the rest of the world, who are starting to realise that India is beginning to shape up as a major power of the 21st century. Till now public opinion was absorbed in China. But now, the limelight has shifted to India. India is becoming the second new superpower in the world.

And China?

China's growth pattern is different. It sees extremely high rates of growth in some years and extremely low growth in others. India's pattern is more or less stable and this is what the world wants.

How do you see the future?

I am particularly optimistic about India. There are three factors which are usually overlooked when one takes stock of developments in this country. One, there is an excellent entrepreneurial class; two, India has a large middle class; and three, there's an excellent network of Indians all over the world. Business networks are fine but few countries have ethnic networks.