Letters | Anwar Ibrahim’s visit to India was a power move in the right direction
Readers discuss Malaysia-India ties, and the promise of Chinese stocks
India’s commitment to keeping the Indo-Pacific region inclusive, peaceful, rule-based and open is in line with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations’ “Outlook on the Indo-Pacific”. India’s Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative has reaffirmed the country’s image as a responsible stakeholder and security provider in the region.
Beijing’s rapid ascendancy in the past three decades has transformed the entire power and economic equation in the region, and until recently, there was no adequate balancer to this new power dynamic apart from the West.
India is now the world’s fifth largest economy (gross domestic product of US$3.75 trillion), rising from 10th position in 2014, and is set to become the world’s third largest economy by 2027, providing a critical buffer and alternative to the Chinese-led drive.
It is now the most populous nation on Earth with a population of 1.44 billion. Most importantly, the median age is just around 28 years, and it has about 900 million people in the working age group. It is a relatively young nation with 65 per cent of the population below the age of 35.
