India must abandon protectionism

It is not hard to see what enthuses the many evangelists for India’s economy. Western companies are investing handsomely in the country as they diversify their supply chains away from China. So indispensable is India to America that their two governments say they are “among the closest partners in the world”, even as India guzzles cheap Russian oil and attends anti-Western gabfests. In a greying Asia, India’s population—which this year became the world’s largest—stands out for its youth. Recently the country discovered reserves of lithium, a metal that is crucial to making batteries. Surveys of purchasing managers suggest the economy is growing at its fastest pace for 13 years, even as China slows. Yet for all this potential, India has an enormous handicap: its suspicion of imports, which is only getting worse as the rest of the world turns away from free trade.