Recently, the latest edition of the "Global Power Rankings," published by U.S. News & World Report, has sparked widespread attention and discussion in the international community.
In this ranking, India dropped out of the top ten, falling to 12th place from its previous position at 9th.
This rang alarm bells for the Modi government in India and caused confusion in Indian public opinion, which has always taken pride in the country's "great power" status.
What are the criteria and dimensions used in this ranking?
Why did India slip in this ranking?
Faced with this "disappointing" result, how did Indian public opinion react? Let's analyze each aspect.
Criteria: Five Equal Weighted "Equal Weight"
The famous "Global Comprehensive National Strength Ranking" by U.S. News & World Report uses five equal-weighted dimensions for evaluation: leadership, economic strength, influence, international alliance relations, and military power, conducting comprehensive calculations and scoring.
This evaluation system is relatively objective and comprehensive, considering a country's internal strength and external influence from multiple perspectives.
According to this standard, India fell out of the top ten mainly due to its insufficient economic strength and military power, two aspects of hard power.
Specifically, in terms of economic influence, despite India's rapid GDP growth in recent years, its impact on the global economy is far less than that of developed economies such as China, the United States, and Russia.
India has always been unable to break free from the constraints of regional economic integration, and its development of export-oriented industries is limited.
Additionally, its demographic dividend has not been fully transformed into human capital, and the sustainability of its growth is questioned.
In terms of military strength, despite India's large population, its level of equipment modernization is not high, and its core military technology relies heavily on imports, making it difficult to independently build a strong military force.
According to assessments by the specialized defense information website "Global Firepower," apart from China, if one were to choose a comprehensive major power rising from Asian countries, it would be South Korea rather than India.
Faced with this "disappointing" rating result, Indian public opinion reacted strongly.
Some Indian think tank experts believe that the U.S. assessment of India's strength is "seriously biased," suggesting that the United States "intentionally lowered India's score."
They argue that India, as a "leader of the South," with military power "second only to China, the United States, and Russia" and a GDP "already ranking among the top few," should definitely be among the top-ranked countries.
Officially, India insists that this ranking lacks authority. The Indian Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson has publicly stated that "when evaluating a country's strength, it should be comprehensive and objective, not overly one-sided."
However, as commentators have pointed out, India's refusal to join regional economic integration processes makes it difficult for it to score highly in terms of economic influence.
Some Indian media also believe that the root cause of the U.S. move to "trouble" India lies in its strategic consideration to contain India's rise in the South Asian and Asia-Pacific regions.
But some believe that U.S. rating agencies, as "bystanders," are unlikely to make unfair judgments about India's strength due to geopolitical needs.
Clearly, Indian public opinion finds it difficult to accept this downgrade from a strategic and national pride perspective.
However, this blunt criticism and blame are likely more from their own disappointment and blame than a complete reflection and correction of India's current problems.
India, with its population dividend, economic potential, and development ambitions, is expected to become a global force sooner or later.
But achieving this goal is not easy. India faces serious shortcomings and systemic challenges.
The imperfection of India's economic system:
India overly relies on the domestic market, lacks development in export-oriented economies, and lags far behind China in integrating into the global industrial chain.
In terms of reform and attracting foreign investment policies, India's progress is slow. This severely restricts the international competitiveness of Indian industries and greatly reduces India's ability to export products and services abroad.
India's scientific and educational talent is weak, and its high-tech innovation capabilities are weak.
In strategic emerging fields such as artificial intelligence, electric vehicles, and chips, India's investment is seriously inadequate, and it cannot break through the core technology barriers, slowing down in the development pace of the smart economy era.
At the same time, the lagging education level and human capital accumulation make it difficult for India to fundamentally reverse the dilemma of not being able to convert the demographic dividend into sustainable development momentum.
India's domestic religious, ethnic, and class conflicts are complex.
The caste system is deeply rooted, ethnic separatist sentiments occasionally emerge, and the highly differentiated state of society affects the formation of a unified large market.
In this context, realizing modernization is particularly difficult.
We cannot ignore the constraints on India's military development.
Although the total force is large, the technical equipment of the three armed forces is seriously lagging behind, and the lack of core strategic capabilities cannot bereversed in the short term.
Additionally, India heavily relies on importing weapons and equipment, making it challenging to quickly change the situation.
Furthermore, India's overall environment for realizing its great power dream faces some unfavorable conditions.
The global industrial transfer is coming to an end, and the dream of becoming a manufacturing powerhouse seems bleak.
In the midst of major power struggles, India continues to encounter multiple constraints under the influence of the competition between China, the United States, and Russia.
Therefore, to rise as a superpower, India must address its fundamental shortcomings and systemic obstacles.
Whether it's pushing forward economic reforms with determination, enhancing technological innovation capabilities, resolving social conflicts, or increasing defense investment; or gaining understanding, tolerance, and support from the international community, all are indispensable forces for India.
Only by fundamentally addressing development weaknesses and effectively resolving systemic obstacles can India's dream of becoming a superpower eventually become a reality.
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