India, Oct. 30 -- This column serves as a follow-up to my previous article from October 2023 - India's Economic Journey from Socialism to Self-Reliance. Since its publication, I have received numerous personal responses from readers, with a common theme: India is progressing, but why is it lagging behind China? There are several reasons behind this steadily widening gap. China operates an opaque hybrid system that blends authoritarian communism with elements of reckless capitalism.

More importantly, China's policies - both at home and abroad - are driven by national interests. The irony is sharp. India's Left and pseudo-secular parties often equate nationalism with communalism and consider nationalism a cuss word - blindly opposing every...