India Today

With so many states, languages, religions, traditions, opinions and people jostling for space and attention, what is striking about India is not its problems, but how well things work considering these many obstacles. Despite challenges ranging from poverty and violence against women to religious tensions and military squabbles with its neighbours, India continues to thrive as the most successful nation in South Asia and the largest democracy in the world.

Best on Film

Fire (1996), Earth (1998) and Water (2005) Trilogy directed by Deepa Mehta.

Pather Panchali (1955) Haunting masterpiece from Satyajit Ray.

Pyaasa (Thirst; 1957) and Kaagaz Ke Phool (Paper Flowers; 1959) For a taste of nostalgia.

Gandhi (1982) The classic.

Lagaan (2001) Written and directed by Ashutosh Gowariker.

Best in Print

Midnight’s Children Salman Rushdie’s allegory about Independence and Partition.

A Fine Balance Rohinton Mistry’s beautifully written, tragic tale set in Mumbai.

White Tiger Aravind Adiga's Booker-winning novel about class struggle in globalised India.

A Suitable Boy More than 1300 pages of romance, heartbreak, family secrets and political intrigue from Vikram Seth.

Shantaram Gregory David Roberts' vivid experiences of his life in India. A traveller favourite!

Dos & Don'ts

Dress modestly Avoid stares by avoiding tight, sheer and skimpy clothes.

Shoes It's polite to remove shoes before entering homes and places of worship.

Photos Best to ask before photographing people, ceremonies or sacred sites.

Bad vibes Avoid pointing soles of feet towards people or deities, or touching anyone with your feet.

Niceties

Namaste Saying namaste with hands together in a prayer gesture is a respectful Hindu greeting.

Shake don't hug Shaking hands is fine but hugs between strangers is not the norm.

Head wobble It can mean ‘yes’, ‘maybe’ or a polite way of saying ‘I have no idea’.

Pure touch The right hand is for eating and shaking hands; the left hand is the ‘toilet’ hand.

The Political Landscape

India's politics continues to be shaped – and in many cases, shaken – by the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who surged to power in 2014, as the Bharatiya Janata Party scored a landslide victory over the ruling Indian National Congress and its dynastic leader Rahul Gandhi, great grandson of India's first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru. During the election campaign, Modi was painted as a religious fundamentalist and hawk by opponents, primarily because of lingering allegations of involvement in intercommunal violence in Gujarat in 2002, but his tenure has been more conciliatory than many feared.

Although some hardline causes have seen growing support – most significantly opposition to cow-slaughter, which has led to bans on the sale of beef and tragic attacks on people accused of killing cows – Modi's focus on neoliberal economics and the so-called Gujarat model of development has brought solid support from many sectors of the Indian population, regardless of religious background. In his first few years in government, Modi decreased welfare spending but lowered taxes, reduced red tape and increased investment by foreign companies, leading to growing opportunities for India's middle classes.

Perhaps Modi's bravest manoeuvre came on 8 November 2016, when the government, without warning, demonetised the nation's ₹500 and ₹1000 banknotes, in a shock move intended to drive tax-avoiders, corrupt officials and terrorism-funders out into the open. While criticised by many – including the International Monetary Fund, which downgraded India's economic forecast as a result of the ban – demonetisation did not lead to the predicted civil unrest, despite massive upheaval and vast queues at the nation's banks before new banknotes entered circulation.

Modi's progress on social issues has been less dynamic. Violence against women continues to be an issue that tarnishes India's reputation, following a string of high-profile rapes and murders, and mass assaults against women during New Year celebrations in Bengaluru in 2017. One unintended consequence of demonetisation has been the reduction in female control of wealth, as women have been forced to reveal personal savings and cede control of their money to male relatives. Nevertheless, there is some progress; the Modi government is debating a 33% quota for women workers in the public sector and a ban on the controversial practice of talaq, where Muslim men can divorce their wives by repeating the word talaq three times.

Plentiful People & Problematic Neighbours

Once a vassal of empire, India is fast emerging as a global superpower to rival Europe and the United States, but its greatest resource – its 1.27 billion people – is also perhaps its greatest challenge. India regularly ranks as the world’s fastest-growing economy, but nearly a quarter of its vast and expanding population lives below the official poverty line, with less than US$1.90 of purchasing power parity per day. With the population continuing to grow by 1.2% – or 12.7 million people – per year, India faces an uphill struggle to ensure that the economic benefits of growth filter down to ordinary people.

Growing power has also placed India into conflict with its neighbours. The traditional divide between China and India – the impregnable line of the Himalaya – is becoming increasingly porous as China expands its influence in Nepal and Pakistan to check Indian power in the region. Plans for a railway connection directly across the world’s highest mountains from Tibet may be positive for trade, but China’s overtures to India’s often hostile neighbours have left many Indians feeling threatened by the Sleeping Giant to the north.

India-Chinese relations are further complicated by the status of the Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism, who lives in exile in McLeod Ganj near Dharamsala, along with members of the pre-1959 Tibetan Government. India’s acceptance of Tibetan refugees is an ongoing source of tension with China, which disputes Indian ownership of parts of Arunachal Pradesh and Aksai Chin in Kashmir as part of its claim to Tibet. Chinese and Indian troops entered a tense standoff in Aksai Chin in 2013, before politicians negotiated an end to the dispute, and a subsequent incursion by Chinese forces into Arunachal Pradesh in 2016 has revived fears that China nurtures ambitions to claim the region it refers to as South Tibet.

China’s ongoing supply of military equipment to Pakistan – including nuclear technology – is a further bone of contention. In 2015, China embarked on an ambitious plan to create the Pakistan China Economic Corridor, a network of road and rail links and gas and oil pipelines running through the Karakoram mountain range to the Pakistan seaboard, further cementing the impression that India is being hemmed in by its neighbour to the north.

The Kashmir Impasse

Decades of border skirmishes between India and Pakistan over the disputed territory of Kashmir show no signs of letting up, with a further upsurge in violence in 2016 following the killing of the Kashmiri militant commander Burhan Wani by Indian troops. In the subsequent protests, 85 people were killed and 13,000 injured, many blinded by pellets as the police tried to disperse rioters. The dispute over Kashmir has plagued India–Pakistan relations ever since the day of Partition in 1947, and the predominantly Muslim Kashmir Valley is still claimed in its entirety by both countries, with a separate movement for an independent Kashmiri state.

The dispute has led to three India–Pakistan wars – in 1947, 1965 and 1971 – and a string of incursions and firing incidents across the Line of Control that have killed tens of thousands of civilians on both sides of the divide. The dispute is also cited as the motivation for the bulk of the terrorist attacks carried out in India by Islamist militants. The government of Pakistan provides shelter – and, India alleges, financial, military and technical support – for armed groups who have carried out hundreds of attacks in India, including a series of deadly raids on Indian Army barracks close to the India–Pakistan border in 2016.

A lull in tensions in 2008 led to talks that might have created an autonomous region, but the situation deteriorated rapidly after militants killed at least 163 people during three days of coordinated bombings and shootings in Mumbai (Bombay). The one sniper caught alive, a Pakistani, had ties to Lashkar-e-Taiba, a militant group that formed to assist the Pakistani army in Kashmir in the 1990s and which has been implicated in dozens of attacks within India.

Despite brief meetings between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in 2014 and 2015, tensions remain high, and the relationship deteriorated further following so-called surgical strikes against militants inside Pakistan-controlled Kashmir by the Indian Army in 2016. Since then, firing has continued across the Line of Control, and some 10,000 people have been evacuated from homes within shelling range of the border. The immediate future of Kashmir may depend as much on the diplomatic plans of new US president Donald Trump as on any changes in position by the governments of India or Pakistan.

Population

1.27 billion

GDP

US$2.3 trillion (2016)

Unemployment rate

5% (2016)

Literacy rate

74.04% (65/82% female/male)

Gender ratio

940/1000 (female/male)