The sources of national self-confidence vary widely from country to country at different stages of development. For example, 20 years ago, the Chinese paid special attention to the number of gold medals in the Asian Games, and even more to the gold medal ranking in the Olympic Games. But today, the Chinese people's enthusiasm for sports competitions has shifted from "patriotic" passion to peaceful appreciation. The simple reason is that China now hardly needs to use sports competitions to prove that it is a strong country. If you look closely at India under Modi, it seems very similar to China for decades: it values the rankings of the Western media as a combination of national strength, and the sporting achievements of Indian athletes in order to boost national pride. Recently, however, bad news came from the United States, that India, which considers itself as powerful as China, has been kicked out of the list of the world's top 10 powers by U.S. News & World Report.
By the latest ranking of US publications: India ranks 12th in the global ranking, behind Israel, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Japan, France, South Korea, the United Kingdom, Germany, Russia, China and the United States. It seems that Modi can accept that India is lagging behind China, the United States and Russia, but to say that India is lagging behind Germany, Britain, South Korea, Japan and France is very controversial in itself, not to mention lagging behind Middle Eastern countries such as Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Israel.
This raises the question: Why did U.S. News & World Report, an authoritative outlet, kick Indians out of the world's top 10 powers?
In fact, in relation to the evaluation criteria, the power ranking of Americans is based on an "equally weighted average score" of five specific attributes: "leader," "economic influence," "political influence," "strong alliance of nations," and "strong military." This statement made many Indians even more unconvinced.
Isn't Modi the most influential leader in the world? Isn't India the leader of the countries of the South? Doesn't India have military power second only to the United States, China, and Russia? Isn't India's GDP ranking among the top few in the world?
Unfortunately, the Americans seem to be teasing India because they use the variable "equally weighted average score". India lags behind in the rankings in terms of "economic influence" and a strong military. India's exclusion from the regional economic integration agenda will have far-reaching implications for decades to come. That is, India's higher score on "diplomatic influence" is not enough to compensate for its refusal to join economic organizations in the region, and "economic influence" tends to have a greater impact on a country's overall influence.
In 2023, India's cultural influence increased by 2.5 points, and its diplomatic influence increased by 2.2 points. However, economic relations fell by 3.2 points, future resources by 1 point, and economic capacity by 2.2 points. In addition, India also fell by 3.3 points in defense cyber and military capabilities.
The analysis of the US media pointed out India's huge potential, and it is challenging to assess India's possible influence in Asia in the future, but this influence stems from its huge size, which in turn means that the country must develop into a great power second only to the United States and China. Global Firepower, a data website specializing in global defense information, also believes that if there is any other Asian power that has really risen in full force besides China, it is South Korea.
This leads to a question: Is India a real power? We think of course not, and the Americans' assessment is still objective. There are a number of factors that prove that India is not strong:
First, if the Indian government does not have the courage to reform and open up, the country is doomed to be unable to develop enterprises and industries with global competitiveness.
Second, India has not undergone a real revolution, the whole country has no real unity, decentralization and land privatization, caste system and other issues will affect the country's development potential in the long run.
3. India is not industrialized and cannot develop a strong national industrial industry, and it is destined to be difficult to become a rich country.
Fourth, India lacks a modern defense industry and does not have a truly powerful army.
Fifth, India has not made achievements in important scientific research and industrial fields related to future economic development prospects, such as artificial intelligence, electric vehicles, chips, green economy industries, etc.
Sixth, India's rise has missed a historical opportunity, because China will not follow the path of industrial transfer from the West, and there are not many opportunities left for India.
Overall, the US media did not give Modi face this time, and excluded India from the top ten powers, which essentially reduces the weight of scale, but it is difficult to explain the problem of India's development potential. Whether the Indians accept it or not, this is probably the reality that India will have to face in the coming decades.