India looks east
THE first prime minister of India, Jawaharlal Nehru, looked down on the countries of South-East Asia as puppets of the imperialist powers, doomed to eco nomic subservience. Today the supposed puppets have become models. The latest Indian budget, announced on February 28th, seems to mark a final break with India's traditional insistence on creating its own form of socialism. Instead, the country is moving towards the more pro-business policies associated with the booming economies of the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN).
This article appeared in the Asia section of the print edition under the headline “India looks east”
From the March 8th 1997 edition
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