India at 80: Young, progressive, and forging a special partnership with Israel - opinion
The journey has been extraordinary. The destination is still ahead-and the India-Israel partnership can be a relevant force in helping shape what comes next.
In 1947, India gained independence after enduring numerous challenges, including partition and displacement. With a weak economy, limited industrial capacity, and inadequate infrastructure, the young nation embarked on a remarkable journey of nation-building. In 1949, India adopted its constitution, establishing democracy, fundamental rights, federalism, an independent judiciary, and universal adult franchise.
Despite struggling to establish political institutions, India chose democracy as its foundation for development, remaining the world's largest democracy eight decades later.
India's economic transformation began in 1991 with major economic reforms, integrating the nation more deeply into the global economy. This liberalization, private enterprise, and globalization unleashed the potential of Indian entrepreneurship and talent, resulting in impressive growth. In FY2025-26, India's real GDP grew by 7.7%, but the story behind this growth is equally impressive.
Modern highways, expressways, airports, ports, railways, and metro systems have emerged, alongside rapidly expanding manufacturing and cutting-edge sectors such as electronics, automobiles, pharmaceuticals, defense production, and space technology.
India's digital transformation, exemplified by the JAM Trinity (Jan Dhan bank accounts, Aadhaar biometric cards, and Mobile), has created an architecture for financial inclusion and the delivery of public services at an unprecedented scale. The Unified Payments Interface (UPI) showcases India's ability to build digital public infrastructure that is interoperable, inclusive, and capable of global adoption, attracting interest from countries like France, Singapore, and the UAE.
The success of India's startup ecosystem, ranked third in the world by the total number of startups and unicorns, further highlights the nation's potential. The launch of Vikram-1, a privately developed rocket by a startup, Skyroot Aerospace, places India alongside the United States and China in the elite club of nations with this capability.
India's youth, in India and beyond, are increasingly becoming the country's most valuable global asset. Indians abroad have earned a reputation for being hardworking, adaptable, diligent, and committed to their adopted societies. The Indian diaspora serves as a bridge between India and the world, fostering a global network of skills, entrepreneurship, and goodwill.
With a 50% share of its cumulative installed electricity capacity from non-fossil sources in 2025, India is committed to sustainable growth, with green technologies such as renewable energy, green hydrogen, and electric mobility becoming integral to its development trajectory.
Written by urgent.news from Jerusalem Post's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — it may contain errors, so check the original before relying on it.
