POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC COHERENCE (or the lack of it)

At a time when the world’s attention is focussed on whether the Euro and the Euro zone will survive the extraordinarily relentless and challenging stress-test the market is subjecting it to it may seem strange to talk of the EU’s success because, whatever the gravity of the current problems, the political achievement of creating a European economic union of 27 sovereign nations is undeniable in terms of both the breadth and ambition of the project and in terms of the fractured history of Europe as a continent.

India, due to become the world’s most populace nation, comprises 28 states and 7 union territories and like Europe has a level of political complexity and a political class which consistently manages to send out confusing and contradictory messages to the world (the latest being whether Indian will open up its retail sector to foreign investment).

Europe is certainly having a hard time and widespread negative press at the moment and India’s political class perhaps also needs to look towards Europe to see what happens when political coherence is not addressed it will inevitably be forced upon you by events.