Differences of opinion within the government on policy matters are commonplace within democracies. Yet, for a variety of reasons, such internal differences within the Narendra Modi government have not always become public. New Delhi’s cocktail circuit has often gossiped about such internal differences but a tame media has rarely explored and exposed them to public view.
Hence, it is interesting to see that the question of permitting Chinese investment into India has brought some of the differences within government into public view. The pot was stirred by what has long been considered a dull and verbose document, the Government of India’s annual Economic Survey. While the Union finance ministry produces and publishes the Eco Survey, the document belongs to the government as a whole.
For decades, the Survey has been read only by economists and economic journalists as a source of data and sometimes as an early indicator of policy. Over the past decade, the Survey took a turn towards academic exploration with three successive chief economic advisers (principal author of the document) showing off their academic prowess. The current CEA, Dr V.
Ananta-Nageswaran, a highly qualified and talented economist with long years of international experience, has mixed academic analysis with policy suggestions and stirred a hornet’s nest. One policy issue that the Survey sought to address is how can India take steps to reduce the huge and rising trade deficit it faces with China. The qu.