India hosts 17.7% of the entire human population, is 8.1% of the global economy, has the third largest military spending on the planet, has nuclear weapons, and is a functional democracy.
By almost any measure, they should be a significant part of the global order and yet, to-date, they’ve never had too much impact on global politics.
As a new global order is currently being created, India has the opportunity to establish itself as a major player.
AFAICT, the chief issue is establishing specific criteria for whether and how to expand the G7.
Can’t they just do what Russia did in the 90’s? Just hang out at the meetings and talk to all the ministers, and maybe they’ll extend a formal invitation.
~Max
I was actually thinking of proposing Brazil and South Korea as well (though, neither is a nuclear power - so that drops them a bit in respect to how much we can be certain that they’re going to continue to remain an independent power).
I’m not sufficiently certain how the G7 is structured, to make decisions, to know whether it’s important for it to stay as small as possible or if it’s a “more the merrier” sort of deal.
But certainly it’s hard to see how Russia could be allowed in and you would say that India isn’t worthy.
They’ve got BRIC (or BRICS if you include South Africa) - Brazil, Russia, India and China as more-or-less economic equals (although Russia may be falling out of that group at the rate it’s going).
They can have their own consortium, with blackjack and hookers if they want. The G7 doesn’t have to be the only player in the game.
Which of the current 7 would you remove?
If you were real hardcore on that 7 then one might note that Germany, France, and Italy are fairly redundant with the EU. Swap them out with India, Brazil, and South Korea and you’re holding at 7.
(Not an actual recommendation.)
A functional one by some measures, but far from a truly liberal democracy and falling short of the G7’s stated ideal of pluralism, IMO. The current government is ultra-Hindu-nationalist and buddying up to Russia, why reward them for that?
Just what would India be able to do, as a member of the G, that they can’t do now? How much real meaning is there to “being in the G7”?
Because of:
You get someone to buddy up with you by inviting them to hang out more. And the more time they’re spending with you, the less they’re spending with others.
Certainly not at much as being part of the UNSC but I think it’s safe to say that that’s not in the running.
Naah, you reward someone for stopping their bad habits by spending time with them. Stopping the bad habits comes first.