G7 Summit | India deserves a place at the global high table

The media was abuzz recently over whether India will be invited to attend the forthcoming G7 summit meeting in Canada. The speculation was put to rest with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney’s call to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking his presence at the annual meeting. 

Though the invitation may have come slightly late, it was a recognition of the fact that most G7 members are keen to consult with a country that is potentially a world power.

Carney echoed this sentiment in defending his decision by asserting that India is now the world’s fifth-largest economy, the most populous, and central to many global supply chains.

This may all be true, yet there are bound to be doubts over whether this country truly deserves to have a place at the global high table of advanced economies. One argument in its favour is the size of the economy which is roughly at the same as Japan, the fourth largest. Yet in terms of per capita income, India falls woefully short. Per capita income here is about $2,878 compared to $33,834 in Japan. Similar comparisons with other invitee countries at the summit are also unflattering, as South Africa has the lowest  per capita income among them of $14,990. Brazil, Mexico, and Australia are at much higher levels.  

There are, however, mitigating circumstances for a country of 1.4 billion people that started its developmental journey only in the post-colonial era. One of the factors for its slower growth, when compared to China, has been the presence of a vibrant democracy where opposition to policy prescriptions cannot simply be pushed to the sidelines. This is vastly dissimilar to its northern neighbour which has been able to implement hard decisions with little to no opposition. 

India, on the other hand, with its messy yet consistent democratic traditions, has been able to move ahead only in a sporadic fashion with economic reforms. There has been considerable domestic opposition to many policy prescriptions. The farm laws are a case in point. Hailed by some agricultural economists as the 1991 moment for the farm sector, these were rolled back due to persistent year-long protests. 

Nevertheless, strides have been made in higher education leading to a stream of computer engineers and scientists that have become the bedrock of the Big Tech. This reinforces the concept of  two Indias as the high tech ecosystem coexists with a primary and secondary education system that has poor learning outcomes. Despite these shortcomings, higher education institutions have created armies of skilled personnel that are highly rated in both domestic and international industries.

Thus, India may be low on the scale of per capita income, but the economy is expanding rapidly while becoming part of global supply chains. Currently, the pace of growth is ahead of the rest of the world. At a projected 6.5% for the FY2026, it remains an outlier with most other countries having slowed down largely due to geopolitical tensions. 

Undoubtedly it has the potential to become a global economic power in the long run. It is recognition of these possibilities that prompts the G7 to invariably invite India to its conclaves since 2019. Significantly, China has not been an invitee to this summit of developed economies. In turn, it has dismissed the group as an outmoded concept that does not represent the world. It has in the past noted that the G7 only accounts for 10% of the world’s population and contributes less than China to global economic growth.

The truth is the G7 may comprise most of the developed world, but excludes both Russia and China, thus diluting its representative nature. 

Yet it cannot be denied the G7 remains a powerful grouping, though it could be losing ground to the wider based G20. Even so, it continues to play an effective role as a forum to formulate policies on the economy, climate change, and international security. 

China may be right in saying that the G7 is not representative of most of the world, but it is definitely a sounding board for the powerful Western bloc. India, thus, not only deserves to be an invitee as a rising economic power, but also needs to be present to share the perspective of its huge population at this global high table.

Sushma Ramachandran is a senior journalist.