By gathering in New Delhi, the leaders at the G20 summit have ensured that much world attention will be focused on the host country, India. There is much to see. India is already being hailed by overheated commentators as the world’s latest superpower, a claim that is advanced in rotation on behalf of every developing nation that attains a certain level of economic and technological growth. Not so long ago, it was China, Today, the message from the same pundits is: sell China, buy India.
Well, perhaps. But, behind the status of possessing nuclear weapons and, most recently, being one of only four countries to have landed a probe on the Moon, there are many flaws in India’s projection of itself as a major power. The space programme was run on a shoestring budget, which is to the government’s credit. Compared to NASA’s budget of $20bn, India’s space budget is $1.3bn, on which it underspent. Since the cost of the Moon landing was £60m, it is arguable that the British taxpayers paid more than half the cost, since the UK sent £33.4m in aid to India over the past fiscal year.
