The Pacific Rim region is a dynamic geoeconomic space of great power competition where many trade agreements and economic blocs have evolved over the last few decades. This article evaluates the insertion of the four economies of the United States, China, India, and the European Union to understand the evolving architecture of trade relations in this region.
While Narendra Modi and the BJP government have been eager to project Indian power across the globe, trade potential with Latin America remains unfulfilled.
As long as China is unwilling to make some bold and imaginative decisions the periodical exchanges between the officials of the two countries will not be fruitful. This requires a political initiative. And for once it looks as if China has all the opportunity and initiative.
Economic performance and capability certainly constitute the foundation of national security and power for a developing nation like India. India has the military capability to defend her territorial integrity and security; however, it will have to sustain higher rates of economic growth to be able to alter the strategic balance in Asia, and globally, to her developmental advantage. Having said this, the author argues that it is not economic growth by itself that holds the key to India's global profile and power, but the nature of that growth process and the manner in which the economic challenges it faces today are addressed. The threat to what more recently has come to be defined as 'homeland security' is posed by social and economic backwardness, the inequalities and the political uncertainty this generates, and the quality of economic development.
While China seeks to alter the global balance of power in its own favour and gives every indication of moving forward with calculated purposiveness, India lurches forward unsteadily, reacting to external pressures erratically rather than anticipating them. It is also unable to achieve the degree of domestic consensus necessary to devote resources and energy to urgent goals.
