India's Journey: 70 Years of Independence
A group of experts joined the Council to consider what India must do to become a decisive force on the world stage and convert its expected demographic dividend into broad prosperity.
About this event
Seventy years after independence, India is the world’s largest democracy, one of its most diverse societies, and the economy with growth potential that could rival China’s. Yet it also remains one of the poorest and unequal, with hundreds of millions mired in deep poverty and limited by a rigid caste system that constrains social mobility. The Narendra Modi-led government’s turn to Hindu nationalism has sharpened sectarian tensions and raised questions over the rule of law—and hasn’t helped relations with Pakistan either. With three decades left before its centennial, what must India do to become a decisive force on the world stage and convert its expected demographic dividend into broad prosperity?
About the Speakers
Alyssa Ayres
Senior Fellow, Council on Foreign Relations
Alyssa Ayres is the senior fellow for India, Pakistan, and South Asia at the Council on Foreign Relations
Professor of Finance, University of Chicago Booth School of Business
Raghuram Rajan is the Katherine Dusak Miller Distinguished Service Professor of Finance at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. He served as the 23rd Governor of the Reserve Bank of India from September 2013 to September 2016 and was the Chief Economist and Director of Research at the International Monetary Fund from 2003 to 2006.
Somini Sengupta
UN Bureau Chief and Foreign Correspondent, New York Times
Somini Sengupta is a George Polk Award-winning foreign correspondent.
Tunku Varadarajan
Fellow, Hoover Institution, Stanford University
Tunku Varadarajan is the Virginia Hobbs Carpenter research fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University and editor of Hoover’s in-house publication Defining Ideas.
Marshall M. Bouton
Senior Fellow, Center for Advanced Study of India, University of Pennsylvania
Marshall M. Bouton is president emeritus of the Chicago Council on Global Affairs. Dr. Bouton currently serves as a member of the advisory group for the Council’s Center on Global Food and Agriculture, a member of the advisory board for Omnivore, an affiliated expert of the Lugar Center, and is a senior fellow at the Center for Advanced Study of India, University of Pennsylvania.
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