The real question India faces isn’t whether democracy rankings are fair. It’s whether the country wants to be a liberal democracy or travel down an autocratic path. [My take]
Follow
Sadanand Dhume
@dhume
AEI Fellow, WSJ Columnist, FP Twitterati 100. Author of My Friend the Fanatic. I share news and opinion from South Asia and the world.
Sadanand Dhume’s Tweets
"Hindu nationalism... views Muslims & Christians as organized threats to Hindu hegemony rather than as equal citizens who happen to follow different faiths."
The result is "electoral autocracy."
Great piece by on how democracy, without liberalism, devolves into tyranny:
Quote Tweet
The real question India faces isn’t whether democracy rankings are fair. It’s whether the country wants to be a liberal democracy or travel down an autocratic path. [My take]
wsj.com/articles/flawe
20
28
56
1
2
1
.: If India’s economy had kept pace with China over the past 40 years, India would currently have a GDP of $10 trillion instead of $2.73 trillion. America’s problem in Asia isn’t that China is too rich. It’s that India is too poor.
15
25
62
Two types of people created Pakistan:
1. Those who thought this scene was desirable, but impossible.
2. Those who thought it possible, but undesirable.
[A pluralist India once challenged assumption #1. No more. Ironically, Hindu nationalists strengthened Pakistani nationalism.]
Quote Tweet
Happy Birthday, #JavedAkhtar (18/01).
What are your favourite films written by Javed saab?
@Javedakhtarjadu @AzmiShabana @jaavedjaaferi @UrmilaMatondkar @FarOutAkhtar
0:56
11.1K views
6
15
Shehbaz Sharif says Pakistan has learnt its lesson and wants to make peace with India. But, as points out, we’ve seen this movie before. Pakistan’s rulers—civilian and military—have been unable to forge a domestic consensus on India.
9
4
23
I see a lot of demonization of by the left, but no real substantive response to his deeply moral argument. Public institutions should not discriminate by race, religion, gender, national origin, or any other birth-based identity group.
Quote Tweet
It's time to abolish public university departments of "diversity, equity, and inclusion" and replace them with the principles of "equality, merit, and colorblindness."
Show this thread
0:51
62.9K views
1
1
9
.: As globalization swept the world after the fall of the Berlin Wall, India, China, and Bangladesh seized new opportunities. Pakistan’s ruling elites stuck with their Cold War policy of extracting foreign aid as geo-strategic rents.
6
16
49
Who is a political moderate? Here Hamid argues that the Western yardstick for measuring moderation is markedly different from the Middle Eastern one. Advocating for full gender equality in the Arab world makes you a radical, not a moderate.
Show this thread
.: In [nutty] demonetization ruling, Indian Supreme Court followed a standard three-act structure of judicial evasion: long delay in hearing case, important evidence in sealed envelopes, and ignoring question about fundamental rights.
5
23
57
A tired pup is a happy pup.
1
6
Have to say the Muhammad Yunus angle to this story felt a little forced to me. Would have made sense ten years ago, but is the Hasina-Yunus feud really still front and center today? Maybe can clarify.
Quote Tweet
Not many foreign journalists are allowed into Bangladesh. But on a recent visit to Dhaka @JohnReedwrites found one story was the talk of the political scene on.ft.com/3XeA84Z
1
2
9
.: Between 2018 and 2022, India held 30 state elections. The BJP managed to win only seven of these on its own, fair and square.
12
37
74
Any similarities between Dara Shikoh and a certain 21st century princeling are purely coincidental. [Source: Sunil Khilnani’s “Incarnations: A History of India in Fifty Lives.”]
5
7
44
In more settled times, a lecture on Indian history by Romila Thapar at the India International Centre in Delhi would be the most normal thing in the world. In 2023 it almost carries the dangerous whiff of subversion.
Quote Tweet
Thapar: “Secular democratic nationalism focused on the singular movement for independence while the two religious nationalisms—Muslim and Hindu—divided the nation between them. The Muslim culminated in Pakistan. The Hindu is edging toward a Hindu Rashtra.” youtube.com/watch?v=Djyyez
50
29
79
Thapar: “Secular democratic nationalism focused on the singular movement for independence while the two religious nationalisms—Muslim and Hindu—divided the nation between them. The Muslim culminated in Pakistan. The Hindu is edging toward a Hindu Rashtra.”
27
27
63
I wonder how historians 100 years from now will think of Sharad Yadav and the political change that he and his cohort—Hindi belt politicians who came of age in the mid-1970s—came to represent.
16
4
28
Five South Asian countries are ranked #100 or below in the Henley Passport Index: Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan and Afghanistan.
11
7
24
What it means to say you’re “not religious” can vary across faiths and across regions. For Christians and Jews in the West it could mean no longer having a religion. In the Middle East, it might mean that you remain a believer in Islam while not being particularly observant.
3
1
4
Show this thread
.: For large swathes of Pakistan’s upper-middle class, moving abroad has become a singular ambition. Nearly every doctor, engineer, computer scientist or corporate professional one speaks to has at least thought about migrating.
7
14
If it’s true that India and Pakistan were on the brink of normalizing trade and sporting ties in 2021, then Bajwa may go down in history as an unlikely (potential) peacemaker and Imran Khan as the spoiler who hurt both his own country and the broader region.
4
3
9
Show this thread
.: Imran Khan isn’t fighting Gen. Bajwa. He is fighting the #Pakistan Army. He’s using pressure tactics like a fast bowler, forgetting the real difference between cricket and dirty politics. He will be the ultimate loser in this game.
8
5
14
Show this thread
On the bright side, art historians, as well as organizations like and pushed back against Hamline’s egregious decision. Here’s Christiane Gruber’s essay:
1
8
Show this thread
Whichever way you slice this, the administration comes out looking pathetic, disconnected from even the most elementary commitment to academic freedom.
nytimes.com/2023/01/08/us/
1
3
21
Show this thread
The size of India’s consumer market has long been hyped, but reality is much more drab. Though India has many potential consumers, they have very little purchasing power, writes
9
12
18
P.S.: The most important thing I’ve learned from responses to this column is that many people can’t stand Starbucks. They’re right.
3
33
Show this thread
The number of Indians with incomes that would be regarded as middle class in the West is even smaller. Not an exact approximation, but striking that there are only ~25m people in the top two income tiers in India compared to ~286m in China.
1
20
41
Show this thread
People point out that 66m is more than the population of most European countries. This is misleading. Many of those who belong in the global middle class by Pew’s definition—daily income of $10-$20 in purchasing power terms—would be below the poverty line in the US or W. Europe.
1
7
35
Show this thread
Yelling at me won’t change the fact that India’s middle class remains small by global standards. According to Pew, it’s 66m people, less than 5% of India’s population. In China it’s 493m people or ~35% of the population. Thank you for reading. 9/9
1
22
95
Show this thread
Objection #3: “Yes, but the future looks great!” I can’t really argue with this one. I’m not gazing into a crystal ball, merely trying to capture current reality. But serious critics must grapple with this paper by and . 8/n
ashoka.edu.in/static/doc_upl
1
8
36
Show this thread
In the luxury car market, the gap between China and India is so staggering that I had to triple check the figures. In 2021, BMW sold 846,000 cars in China. It sold 8876 cars in India. BMW India touted this as a great achievement. 7/n
1
25
56
Show this thread
Or take cars, a middle class good in much of the world. In 2021, the Chinese bought 26.3m cars. Indians bought 3.7m cars. The Chairman of Maruti Suzuki recently pointed out that it could take 40 years for the Indian car market to catch up with China’s. 6/n
1
8
48
Show this thread
Now to the second major objection: “Don’t talk about Starbucks, iPhones and Netflix subscriptions. These are luxury goods.” My response: The fact that they are luxury goods in India proves my point. If Indians had more disposable income they would not be seen as luxury goods. 5/n
1
13
63
Show this thread
Moreover, as I show in my piece, mere GDP figures are misleading. For many consumer goods, the gap between the Chinese market and the Indian market is LARGER than the gap between Chinese and Indian GDP. 4/n
1
10
28
Show this thread
Over the past decade, the gap between China and India has not shrunk. It has grown. In 2012, the Chinese economy was 4.7X larger than India’s. 3/n
1
7
35
Show this thread
But this doesn’t refute my central point—that contrary to popular belief India’s market is small by global standards. We should ask how China pulled so far ahead. In 1990 Chinese GDP ($360b) was similar to Indian GDP ($321b). Now China’s economy is 5.6X larger than India’s. 2/n
1
18
47
Show this thread
This column has set off a mini firestorm here, so let me quickly respond to some of the objections. First, people point out that obviously China is a larger market than India. After all, it’s a larger economy. Chinese GDP in 2021: $17.73T. Indian GDP: $3.18T. 1/n
1
12
37
Show this thread
Great job opportunity in Singapore for Asia defense wonks.
Quote Tweet
JOB CLAXON Come and work for @IISS_org in Singapore, where we are seeking a brilliant new Shangri-La Dialogue Senior Fellow for Indo-Pacific Defence and Strategy.
Its an exciting role, both delivering the annual Shangri-La Dialogue summit ....
iiss.org/careers/jobs/2Show this thread
2
Contrary to all the hype, India’s market for consumer goods remains very small. The Chinese buy about 8X more iPhones and nearly 100X more BMWs than Indians. Starbucks has 20X as many outlets in China as in India. [My take] v
3
301
489
Show this thread