Tale of two nations born together

As India progresses towards being one of the top 3 economies, its neighbor Pakistan is drowning in debt and close to default. People are asking a very basic question – both countries got their independence at the same time. They have the same kind of people, same culture and similar talent so why the two countries had such different trajectories?

The answer lies in the fundamental principles of nation building that were set immediately after independence. What India has achieved today is the consistent application of policies based on those fundamental principles over seven decades. No doubt there have been ups and downs but leadership has been able to take effective corrective measures to get India back on track. On the other hand Pakistan has failed due to their India centric policy. Great progress was made in Pakistan during mid-fifties to mid-sixties. Economy was looking up and the growth rate was almost twice as much compared to India.

This trajectory took a dive after the Indo-Pak war of 1965 when Pakistan tried to take Kashmir through incursions into Kashmir. That seemed to be the downward spiral for Pakistan and it seemed they mis-judged priorities (like education, modernization etc.) and now are being called a nation of beggars as their leaders are approaching other countries to bail them out.

However, India’s top priority from the time of her first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru was modernization. This is a task evolves over time and takes a couple of generations to bear fruit. It is necessary to have the right conditions that nurture modernization like democracy, modern education system, gender equality and economic reforms.

For a new nation emerging out of a foreign rule, it takes time to push it towards these conditions. Perhaps India made some right decisions along the way that put her on the trajectory towards prosperity whilst her neighbor was never had visionaries or leaders that could create conditions for a strong and robust Pakistan.