India to add $10 bn to aid Europe

The Hindustan Times ^ | 19 June 2012 | Pramit Pal Chaudhary

[Cronos]

India will pledge an additional $ 10 billion to the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF’s) firewall against a eurozone financial conflagration. This was announced by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in his opening speech at the Group of 20 summit in Mexico.

The money will be part of an estimated $63-billion contribution by the BRICS countries, the emerging group og economies currently chaired by India, to the IMF’s $430-billion emergency fund.

The BRICS countries, comprising Brazil Russia India China and South Africa, had earlier agreed that their contributions would be conditional on the IMF enhancing their voting rights and “that this recourse will be called upon only after existing resources are substantially utilised.” If India’s IMF vote share is actually increased, it will have to pay another $ 11 billion, said government officials.

Though the Greek general elections on Sunday gave the euro zone some breathing space, high interest rates still commanded by Spanish and Italian government bonds indicate markets remained unconvinced that the crisis is on the path of resolution.

[Cronos]

and the world turns...

[Navy Patriot]

Western Europe, meet the new landlord, BRICS.

Seems not so long ago it was the other way around.

I'm sure warm feelings abound from the colonial days.

[Ronin]

India... $10 Billion... to aid Europe????

Never in my life would I have imagined reading that sentence.

[spetznaz]

I would say it is simply a return to the norm that has prevailed since ancient times. India and China have juggled status as 'the world's largest economy' for centuries (at one point, India, in the 1500s it had slightly over 25% of the world's GDP, with one of its emperors having more money in his personal coffers than that of British economy). Until the 19th Century, when the Great Divergence occurred, the GDPs of the Western world were not in competition with those of India and China.

Maybe things are simply returning to average.

[Cronos]

The great divergence was for a reason -- the triumph of the industrial revolution in the triangle of England-Holland-France.

Strangely enough, India and China were left behind for the same reason they are surging ahead now -- they had a strict orthodoxy that did not allow for any changes.

[Dr. Ursus]

India should be careful because Europe will be back again
and again.

[Salt]

I Don’t know where you got the idea that India didn’t industrialize on the basis of not wanting change. When the English took over, India was the worlds leader in steel production and casting technologies—the english enforced a strict policy that no foundry was to exceed four workers, no mechanical production of fabrics or goods, and no production of pumps/machines. I won’t even go into their policies of not allowing any local policing of roads(while simultaneously banning arms of any kind) or building/maintaining/repairing water flood systems for local roads and bridges and basically forcing a huge part of the Indian economy to die so a sub-sect could be taxed by opting for the only other protected movement of goods available outside of major cities( English rail).

The Indian economy is recovering from the english policies just as the Americans did after independence—given the young age of most of their population in comparison to other nations, they will most likely surpass their original position in the world economy prior to english occupation. I just don’t like the word ‘superpower’ being used—all war games aside, USA is the sole superpower and will remain so for a good part of the future.

[ravager]

Brazil will own Portugal and Spain. India will own UK. China will own France and Netherlands. South Africa will own Germany and Belgium. And Karma will come full circle.

[ravager]

If BRICS become anything like NATO then we WILL be talking “superpower”. Just not in the context of US anymore. And unlike NATO, BRICS will be a real military and economic power.

[ravager]

The Great Divergence is just a lot of hooey created by Samuel Hintington.