From Siify.com:
Democracy may obstruct India’s development, but it also makes the world look at this billion-strong nation differently, with no fear of aggression vis-à-vis China, says Singapore’s Minister-Mentor Lee Kuan Yew.
Lee also calls the efforts by India to forge a civilian nuclear deal with the US in the nation’s interest, but adds that political opposition to it reflects the internal checks and balances in place because of the democratic set up.
“There is no fear that India has aggressive intentions,” Lee writes in a column for Forbes, soon after his recent return from New Delhi, which he visited twice over the past month to address top executives of J P Morgan and Citigroup.
“Two of the largest US banks consider India to be a growth story and are eager to service American and Indian companies. I did not detect any anxiety over India becoming a problem to the present world order,” says Lee.
“Why has China’s peaceful rise, however, raised apprehensions? Is it because India is a democracy in which numerous political forces are constantly at work, making for an internal system of checks and balances?” [Full Text]
Read also: Tale of Two Nations – Why the US Responds Differently to the Rise of China and of India by Sunanday K. Datta-Ray on Indian newspaper the Telegraph, and Democratic Transitions: Case Studies from Asia by Tom Ginsburg on Foreign Policy Research Institute.
