India and Pakistan have seen many ups and downs in the 75 years of their independent existence. How have the two countries performed on various social and economic parameters? How has politics affected the trajectory and development of India and Pakistan since independence? Here is a brief look at the independent travel of India and Pakistan over the last 75 years.
civil vs military rule
The nature of political governance is perhaps the most important difference between the two countries.
Since independence, India has enjoyed uninterrupted democracy, barring the 21-month state of emergency. Not surprisingly, addressing the nation for the 9th time from the ramparts of the Red Fort, PM Narendra Modi on Monday said India is the “mother of democracy” and diversity is its greatest strength.
While democracy flourished in India since 1947, Pakistan has alternated between civil and military, democratic and authoritarian, relatively secular and Islamic rule since independence.
As a result, no PM in Pakistan has been able to complete his term. Three civilian governments were overthrown by the military and four army chiefs became president. About half of his 75 years of independent travel was spent under military rule.
economic travel
Thanks to stable governments over the years and a focus on economic growth, India has lost the weight of its colonial past to emerge as a global superpower in its own right.
Has Pakistan also seen a similar development story? The figures paint a grim picture.
India and Pakistan – the two largest South Asian countries – began their economic journey from scratch after independence.
In the last 75 years, both the countries faced many challenges. However, the structure of both economies Much has changed and they have now become more dependent on the industry and service sectors.
Few people know that there was a time in the 1960s when the per capita GDP of Pakistan used to be higher than that of India. However, over the years, India has not only surpassed Pakistan’s per capita GDP, but has taken a commanding lead on almost every economic front.
Despite economic challenges like Covid-19 and uncertain geopolitical scenario due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in the last 2 years, India is projected to be the fastest growing economy. Meanwhile, Pakistan is under pressure from its political landscape which has pushed it to the brink of its worst economic crisis ever.
Pakistan’s forex reserves have dwindled to just one figure (in billions of dollars), while India’s forex count remains strong and is currently the 5th largest in the world.
In fact, India’s foreign exchange reserves are about 1.7 times the size of Pakistan’s entire GDP. This reflects the contrasting development stories of both the countries.
Such is the difference between the two countries that while Pakistan is negotiating an economic bailout with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to revive its crippled economy, India is providing billions of dollars in aid to troubled countries like Sri Lanka. Is.
Pakistan’s own leaders have been praising India’s foreign policy initiatives and comparing it to its failures. Recently, ousted PM Imran Khan carried a clip of External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar at a rally in Lahore to highlight it.
defense spending
India’s defense spending is far ahead of Pakistan in terms of value. However, Pakistan’s military budget as a share of GDP is much higher than that of India. This indicates that Islamabad has allocated more money to increase its military power at the cost of neglecting other serious social needs of its people.
A winner in many parameters
Like GDP growth, there was a time when Pakistan outperformed India on key socioeconomic indicators such as per capita income or literacy rate. However, India has not only bridged this gap but has managed to overtake its neighboring country on almost every parameter.
Here’s a look at some of them…
