'India should chart own path to shed West's China-plus tag'

India should play to its own intrinsic economic strengths and follow its own path towards development by 2047; it need not replicate China's trajectory, top former officials and diplomats said on Thursday at Business Standard Manthan.

Discussing how India can shed the West's 'China-plus' tag and emerge stronger, a panel comprising former National Security Advisor Shivshankar Menon, former foreign secretary Shyam Saran, and former Indian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom Nalin Surie argued that India reducing its import dependence on China might be a key step towards this.

"The dragon is a mythical animal. The elephant is a real animal. I don't think India can be called China-plus. India is Sui Generis. So is China, for that matter. The countries that are part of the 'plus' tag are those which are on the same economic track as China essentially is. They have large export-driven economies," Surie said.

Arguing that the economic paths of India and China will be parallel but similar going forward, Surie said there would be areas where they would likely intersect. "China's attitude is to stare you down, to put you in a corner, in whatever way they can...They would like to suggest India is not a challenge in any way.... I believe for China, the biggest challenge is India, starting with Asia, and going forward," he said.