India’s future will be shaped by its expats, says Gaurav Dalmia

AS INDIA CELEBRATES 75 years of independence, historians will note that its successes since were not preordained. Many predicted in 1947 that India would not be able to handle liberal democracy and so would probably disintegrate. Though it has defied pessimists, it has not quite lived up to optimists’ expectations. Seduced by socialist rhetoric in its formative years, India went through decades with ideological blinkers. Its leaders made decisive reforms only in the 1990s, as an economic crisis forced action. Since then, India’s economy has grown more than 11 times in size, making it the world’s third-largest after accounting for the cost of living. Currently, two Indians play musical chairs for the top spot as Asia’s richest person.