An Indian century or will it fall short?

New superpower's challenges

- JASON BEATTIE

THE 21st century, Narendra Modi declared after first winning office in 2014, would be "India's century".

This weekend, world leaders will gather in New Delhi for the G20 summit.

And they will arrive in a country with one of the fastest-growing economies in the world.

A country that is the world's largest by population, with 1.5 billion people, and a country that two weeks ago celebrated the Chandrayaan-3 Moon landing.

A few days ago, India's space programme also launched a mission to explore the outer reaches of the Sun.

The Greek myth of Icarus tells the story of what happens when you fly too close to the Sun.

It is story of hubris, bravado and over-ambition. Some people are asking if this cautionary tale could apply to India.

Is it poised to be the leading superpower of the 21st century?

Or is it a juggernaut in danger of careering off its tracks?

In a recent interview Ashoka Mody, author of India is Broken, said the story of the nation striding on the world stage was "completely divorced" from the reality of the vast majority of Indians.

The economist added: "India is broken in the sense that for hundreds of millions of Indians, jobs are hard to get and education and healthcare are poor.

"The justice system is coercive and brutal. The air quality remains extraordinarily poor. The rivers are dying. And it's not clear that things are going to get better."

BOOMING 

PM Modi will want to show the G20 leaders a different India.

His guidebook boasts of a country with a booming economy, one of the world's fastest-growing tech sectors and a digitalised banking system.

With growth averaging 6% a year, India is on course to overtake Germany and Japan to become the world's third-biggest economy by 2030, after the US and China.