Narendra Modi vs. Manmohan Singh

I thank Cermank for this debate, and for her kindness regarding my inability to post. In this round I will present my case, discussing first Manmohan Singh, and then Narendra Modi.MANMOHAN SINGHEconomic PolicyUltimately, this is something that will have to be evaluated on balance, not something for which we can point to a specific month or year of Singh's 10 years in office and say, "look, India's economy was bad this month/year." Certainly that says nothing about the broader effects of Singh's policies. Rather, what seems most prudent, is to look at his entire 10 years in office as a single block of time, and to analyze the economy and what occurred therein during that time as a whole.During those 10 years at Number 7 Race Course Road, New Delhi, Singh has made some absolutely fantastic economic achievements. "On his watch India’s economy more than doubled in size, as growth averaged over 8% until two years ago. The World Bank on April 29th ranked India’s economy as the world’s third-largest, replacing Japan’s (using purchasing-power parities). Elsewhere, a civil-nuclear deal with America brought benefits, notably imported uranium. And he had the grit to reduce huge subsidies on petrol and diesel," as well. [1] Additionally, "poverty reduction is the greatest success story of the post-1991 period. Both in absolute terms and as a percentage of population, the number of Indians in poverty has fallen significantly, from 47% in 1990 to 22% in 2010. Singh deserves his share of the credit for that." [2] Indeed, poverty reduction is one of Singh greatest triumphs. [1]"Helping the most impoverished had traditionally meant agricultural subsidisation...As prime minister, Singh has continued to rely on subsidies and handouts for the countryside, one of several aspects of economic governance that he has, ironically, been criticised for during the current election campaign...Even in the mid-1990s, few economists were predicting that India could achieve anything like China's growth rates within ten years...Yet by decade's end, growth was above 6%, and by 2003-04 it would hit 'tiger' levels of 8% and above...Now India is firmly in the club of booming emerging economies." [2] "The Finance ministry has been working towards relieving farmers of their debt and has been working towards pro-industry policies" that arguably have had important impacts on poverty reduction and rural development. [3] Ultimately, the facts speak for themselves. In 2011, 37.2% of India lived in poverty, but by 2013, that number was reduced to just 21.9% (alternative statistics place it at 29.6%, which is still a significant reduction in the space of just 2 years.) [4, 5] As Singh himself observed, "Measuring poverty is a difficult task. There are diverse views about what constitutes poverty. But whatever definition we may adopt, it cannot be denied that the pace of reduction of poverty has increased after 2004." [4]Foreign PolicySingh "has overseen stable relations with Pakistan, despite Pakistan's reluctance to address Islamist terrorism, most notably in the wake of the 2008 attacks on Mumbai. At his farewell press conference on 3 January, Singh confirmed that he had come close to a peace deal on the Kashmir dispute before the departure of Pervez Musharraf in 2008. During a decade in which Pakistan has had moments of worrying political instability, Singh showed steady nerves and an ability to keep communication channels open. The BJP, which called on Singh to consider military action against Pakistan after the Mumbai attacks, appeals to its base by talking tough on Pakistan. Yet the Kashmir near-deal shows that Singh's softer approach offered the best chance for building trust and promoting the long term security of the subcontinent as a whole." [2]"Sino-Indian relations have been in a phase of trust building, particularly in recent years, albeit with intermittent setbacks on the disputed border. On a visit to China last year Singh issued a joint statement on a strategic and cooperative partnership that included calls to resolve the border issue, pursue defence exchanges and cultivate enhanced economic ties. The Sino-Indian Border Defense Cooperation Agreement, also finalised during the visit, will in theory minimise the chances of conflict arising from unexpected movements in the contested areas. All this is framed by booming economic ties that have seen bilateral trade grow by a factor of 67 between 1998 and 2012. The BJP talks tough on China, but once again, Singh's diplomatic skill and flexibility has left India in a favourable position." [2]"Another move that showcases Singh's capacity as a negotiator and his commitment to signaling India's peaceful rise was the Civil Nuclear Agreement with the US, finalised in 2008. The agreement brought India partially into the global regime to regulate nuclear technology by committing its civilian nuclear facilities to International Atomic Energy Agency inspections. India has always sought prestige as well as deterrence through its nuclear weapons program, and gaining its exceptional status under the agreement supports that end...The deal has been the foundation for slow and steady gains, and the level of foreign policy cooperation between India and the US today is unprecedented. This has happened without compromising Indian trust building with Pakistan and China." [2]"Relations with Afghanistan have also improved considerably, with India now becoming the largest regional donor to Afghanistan. During Afghan President Hamid Karzai's visit to New Delhi in August 2008, Manmohan Singh increased the aid package to Afghanistan for the development of more schools, health clinics, infrastructure, and defence." [3] "Singh's government has also been especially keen on expanding ties with Israel. Since 2003, the two countries have made significant investments in each other and Israel now rivals Russia to become India's [largest] defence partner." [3] Russo-Indian relations "remain strong with India and Russia signing various agreements to increase defence, nuclear energy and space co-operation." [3]What all this underscores is simple: Singh has successfully positioned India in the global sphere, reducing tensions with its regional neighbors (China, Pakistan, Afghanistan) while building upon or forming new relationships with a variety of different partners (U.S., Russia, Israel.) India has also during Singh's tenure worked to capitalize on its status as a BRICS nation, building economic and social ties with Brazil and South Africa. [3]Domestic PolicySingh, on the domestic front, can be credited with myriad successes, including, "poverty reduction, rural jobs and food schemes, polio eradication and the taming of a once-terrifying AIDS epidemic." [1] Singh's administration can therefore be credited with making major breakthroughs in terms of promoting health and sanitation within India.Additionally, Singh has pushed forward in the fight against terrorism, particularly after the Mumbai attacks. He realized that India needed a single agency to deal with terror-related issues, and so created the National Investigation Agency. [3] His government has been able to reduce terrorism in Northeast India, in particular. [3]Finally, Singh championed the Right to Information Act, which empowers any citizen to "request information from a 'public authority'...which is required to reply expeditiously or within thirty days. The Act also requires every public authority to computerise their records for wide dissemination and to proactively certain categories of information so that the citizens need minimum recourse to request for information formally." [6] The act has proved instrumental in the fight against corruption. [3]NARENDRA MODIDue to character limitations, I will only focus on one issue: the Gujarati Riots. I will add more in my rebuttals. Background on the riots can be found here. [7] "Summarizing academic views on the subject, Martha Nussbaum stated that 'There is by now a broad consensus that the Gujarat violence was a form of ethnic cleansing, that in many ways it was premeditated, and that it was carried out with the complicity of the state government and officers of the law.' In 2012, Maya Kodnani, a former minister in Modi's Government...was convicted of having participated in the Naroda Patiya massacre during the 2002 riots...While initially announcing that it would seek the death penalty for Kodnani, Modi's government eventually pardoned her." [7] "Human rights organisations, opposition parties, and sections of the media all accused Gujarat's government of taking insufficient action against the riots, and even condoning it in some cases. Modi's decision to move the corpses of the Kar Sevaks who had been burned to death in Godhra...had been criticised for inflaming the violence." [7]"Among Modi’s critics, concerns will persist about the future of India’s secularism and the fate of India’s Muslim minority...Some allege that his complicity in the deadly 2002 Godhra riots that resulted in the deaths of hundreds of Muslims render him unfit to lead a country as pluralistic as India....The BJP as a whole is a Hindu nationalist party, influenced heavily by the often-militant Hindu organization, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS)." [8]SOURCES1 - http://www.economist.com...2 - http://www.lowyinterpreter.org...3 - http://en.wikipedia.org...4 - http://www.newsnation.in...5 - http://www.ndtv.com...6 - http://en.wikipedia.org...7 - http://en.wikipedia.org...8 - http://www.zerohedge.com...Again, I apologize for missing last round.