For any country, there are certain defining moments that change the course of its history. In my opinion, for India, there are three decisive events that not only changed its history but also altered the dynamics of its power and strength in the South Asian region. Although I do not agree with many policies of Congress party in general and that of Mrs. Indira Gandhi in particular , I strongly agree that there have been three events under the Congress government that changed the course of Indian history.
The first is the nuclear test carried out on 18th May 1974 by the Congress government under the leadership of Mrs. Gandhi. The test was done under the garb of peaceful use of nuclear energy but some reports and experts assert that the test was done to give India minimum deterrence against China. India had lost 1962 war with China . China conducted its first nuclear test in 1967 and with Pakistan on one side and the nuclear armed China on another side, it became imperative for India to become “nuclear capable”. The test conducted in Pokhran located in the state of Rajasthan was the first one conducted by a non permanent member of United Nations thereby making India the sixth nuclear powered nation in the world. It does not matter if the test was meant for peaceful purpose or to develop nuclear deterrence against China, what matters is that India developed capability to channelize the nuclear energy to its benefit. This test paved the way for future research and development of nuclear energy. Two prominent figures who played a vital role in “Smiling Buddha”, as it was codenamed, were Homi Bhabha, also considered as the father of Indian nuclear program, and Raja Ramanna, who was also instrumental in weaponizing the nuclear energy for India.
The second event was the liberation of Bangladesh by the Indian armed forces in 1971. There has not been a single event in the world history after World War – II where a nation was created by use of military might. The thirteen day war with Pakistan freed Bangladesh from the shackles of ethnic violence and discrimination perpetrated by the West Pakistan on the East Pakistan, as Bangladesh was called prior to 1971. It was not only a grand success of the Indian armed forces but it garnered reverence from around the world for India as a global emerging power to reckon with.
The third moment was the Liberalization of Indian economy in 1991. India experienced a spiraling economical downfall after the disintegration of Soviet Union in 1989, mostly due to our reliance on the Soviet block for almost everything that is required to run a country. Under the leadership of P.V Narsimha Rao and the finance minister Dr. Manmohan Singh, India opened its economy to the western world, especially United States. The policies led to massive investments by United States in India which led to the spawning of call centers across the country. U.S and the western world capitalized on India’s large English speaking population that created thousands of well paid jobs thereby rescuing the country out of its economical predicament. This surge in the creation of “call center” jobs was just the beginning. The next wave of investment from the U.S into India focused on the Information Technology sector creating a plethora of technology related jobs. It changed the outlook of many Indian cities like Hyderabad, Bangalore, Pune, Mumbai and Delhi which transformed into “Tech hubs”. Innovation became a synonym of the Indian IT workforce. Indian professionals began travelling to the U.S thereby further enhancing the image of India from merely a country of snake charmers to a country with a large tech savvy population. Another outcome of this transformation was that it brought millions of Indians out of sheer poverty and destitute.
Like any other country, India too had its share of unwise decisions and grave mistakes, but in my opinion, the aforementioned events changed the destiny of the country forever.
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