Is India Turning Into the Switzerland of Asia?

India is quietly positioning themselves to become the latest superpower among developed Nations they have a rising GDP the largest diaspora of citizens living in different countries throughout the world and are uniquely positioned for international trade and military defense they are also one of the world's most neutral countries holding alliances with various neighboring Nations and diplomacy groups it makes sense for India to be seen as becoming

the new Switzerland economically India is in fine shape as fear of a global recession Rises India is expected to log the best performance of any developed nation's economy the World Bank estimates that India will see growth of as much as 6.6 percent compared to 4.3 percent for China and a mere 0.5 percent for the U.S the center for economics and business research in the UK estimates

that India's annual GDP will grow on average by 6.4 percent over the next five years and 6.5 percent for the nine years after that India has recently surpassed the UK as the fifth largest economy in the world and is expected to take over the fourth spot from Germany by 2026 their economy currently stands at 3.5 trillion dollars India is also the world's number one or two

exporter of goods in the world with only China able to beat or match their effectiveness they have one of the world's largest populations with over 1.4 billion citizens they're expected to pass China as the world's most populous country by the end of 2023 the country has a working age population of over 900 million workers and is expected to hit the 1 billion Mark over the next

decade these factors make India appealing to outside investors looking to business in the region India is one of the most neutral International Arbiters in the world and for good reason when your country does business the world over sits in the perfect place for international trade and has the largest diaspora of expats living everywhere in the world it makes sense to favor diplomacy much like Switzerland India

relies on its reputation its stability and its economic wealth Harbor Goodwill between nations India has several diplomatic agreements with several foreign influence groups throughout the globe since 2009 India has been a member of the brics group brics stands for Brazil Russia India China and South Africa this partnership was created in order to promote peace security and economic partnership this helps to ensure that any conflict that

arises between nations can be first approached with diplomacy before any military action necessary brics is not the only International Peace and trade agreement that India belongs to since 2007 India has participated in the quadrilateral security dialogue involving India the United States Japan and Australia the purpose of this agreement is to police the Waters of the Pacific Ocean ensuring safe trade routes between nations shared economic interests

keep all parties civil India is also part of the asean block which stands for the association of Southeast Asian Nations the asean blog consists of India and 10 different countries in the india-pacific region including Thailand Singapore Vietnam the Philippines and Malaysia this group has a similar goal of the quadrilateral security dialogue while simultaneously securing the Malacca Strait to ensure trade India has historically been geographically positioned

as an ideal place for trade it sits between three of the most active trading routes in the world the Adele mandeb Strait leads to the Suez Canal in the Mediterranean both make up a vital artery for trade between Europe Africa and Asia 30 percent of the world's shipping containers pass through the Suez Canal making up 12 percent of the world's Maritime trade India has become even

more important in the world's oil Market due to several countries withdrawing from trade with Russia over the war with Ukraine the aroma Strait flows from the Parisian Gulf into the Indian Ocean and with With It Go valuable shipments of Saudi oil so India helps move almost one-fifth of the world's natural gas consumption internationally the Malacca Strait facilitates more than one-fourth of the World's Trade 80 percent

of Chinese oil is facilitated by the Malacca Strait and the strait is crucial to help China the world's number one exporter deliver Goods to Europe and the West China's massive Shoreline faces a number of countries that are either friendly with the west or adversarial to China itself so the most valuable path for trade from China is through the Malacca Strait India's inclusion in the asean block

allows India to act as an intermediary to ensure trade from and to China in 2000 the first EU India Summit was held strengthening the relationship between the two and by 2004 that that relationship had grown into a strategic partnership by 2019 the EU represented the largest trading partner to India doing over 78 billion dollars worth of business together and in 2020 India and the EU signed

a road map to strengthen their economic ties in terms of climate change human rights research and security India has strong I.T manufacturing and pharmaceutical Industries to bolster their GDP the country boasts a large well-educated English-speaking middle-class labor force as well these are all contributing factors to India gaining ground on its rival China in several areas India's Workforce is as youthful as it is useful and China's

labor base is aging and earning higher wages giving India a Competitive Edge that continues to grow not to mention China's less than Stellar geopolitical relationships with Western countries have given India the opportunity to continue growing as a supply chain shift and change due to India's demographics their demand for goods and services is predicted to be high a large working age population needs Essentials such as food

and energy which breeds to men for infrastructure investment these are contributing factors to India's fast-growing GDP another Factor making India appear a more favorable investment destination than China is its climate policies India plans to reach net zero emissions by 2070 and has plans in place to make sure that renewable energy accounts for 50 percent of India's energy needs by 2030 but what may be the most

alluring factor to foreign investors is the Rye of China plus one business strategies coined in 2013 the China plus one Global business strategy is when companies avoid investing only in China and diversify their businesses to Alternative destinations issues such as the china-us trade War the covid-19 pandemic disrupted Supply chains higher Freight rates and the rising cost of Labor are all reasons that multinational companies must reduce

their focus of their business interests solely in China and diversify it to other developing nations attractive alternative countries that include Mexico Vietnam Malaysia and of course India companies engaged in the China plus one strategy turned to India as their first alternative due to a majority of the categoristics mentioned previously India's diplomatic relations with most of the world as well as trade agreements in various treaties keeps

India from out of a lot of violent conflicts however that doesn't mean that this neutral country hasn't had to take action to defend itself India has a decades-long rivalry with neighboring China and there have been several disputes regarding the 3488 kilometers long Himalayan Border in 2022 these disputes became violent as Chinese and Indian soldiers fought in the galwan valley at the south-ethern edge of aksai shin

an area that has been occupied by China since 1962. 40 Chinese and 96 Indian troops were wounded and or killed in the Skirmish situations like this are part of the reason why India maintains good relations with Russia their main weapon supplier approximately 67 percent of Indian submarines 68 percent of anti-ship cruise missiles 97 percent of of their fighter jets and tanks come from Russia India's dependence

on Russian arms may have influenced why India did not condemn the Russian war with Ukraine although a skirmish broke out over a border dispute it was quickly halted and cooler heads prevailed both China and India have too much economic interest and trade activity between their own and Allied neighboring countries to progress things further both countries absolutely must protect the Malacca Strait because any disruption of trade

could prove disastrous Indian leaders feel that Russia could use its ties with China to help curtail their efforts to engage with India the U.S and other Western Nations weren't in favor of India's lack of condemnation towards Russia for invading the Ukraine however India's ties to Russia serve as a check to U.S influence over India seeing as if relationships with the West turned sour India can take

sides and back Russia which could turn China from an economic rival to a wartime Ally India's Russia learning neutrality has since proven fruitful as the country has benefited from cheaper Russian oil and access to other Commodities this decision has also cooled down the Indian Chinese border dispute for now but in the long run this decision to lean towards Russia could prove costly the Ukraine has military

support from the West so if tensions rise again between China and India Russia may be limited in their ability to support India militarily or mediate the dispute in summation India is fast becoming the latest developed superpower in the modern world they're on Pace to upset China as the world's most populous country and the world's number one exporters of goods their young educated and specialized Workforce is

attractive to foreign investment and India is currently enjoying consistent growth in an environment where its Rivals of trouble recovering from the covid-19 global pandemic India's diplomacy and trade relationships span the globe their unique geography sets them in an opportune place to engage in and facilitate global trade doing business internationally with many foreign Partners keeps India free from Conflict for the most part their military strategy is

to remain neutral but to lean towards countries that give them strategic advantages relying on trade and security from neighboring countries some with ties to potential threats also keeps India neutral in these and many other ways India is quickly becoming much like the Switzerland of Asia thanks for watching and please remember to like subscribe and keep coming back to the richest for more of our featured content

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