India still suffers from a reflexive antipathy toward multinational corporations. India entered the new century with more poor people than its entire population at independence in the middle of the last century. To the destitute, pretensions to great-power status by India's leaders ring hollow. If a liberal and open market-oriented economy brings rapid economic growth, then it is precisely this strategy that will reduce India's dependence on international capital. Only so can the poverty trap be broken.
Foreign investment remains stuck well below the levels flowing into other emerging markets.
India has the attraction of a sizeable market and a plentiful and cheap labor force. India needs to devote more resources to education, skills and training as well as strengthening power, transport and communications infrastructures. Indians like to boast of being an emerging IT superpower. While most are aware that the volume of foreign investment flowing into China exceeds that into India several fold, they are shocked to discover that Internet connectivity is similarly lopsided between the two countries. And China is fast catching up in English-language competency.