How Is India Doing?

"India remains, first and foremost, a very poor place."

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In a refreshing break from rank punditry, Jonah is joined by Sadanand Dhume—a Wall Street Journal columnist and senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute who specializes in South Asian political economy—to answer the question: How is India doing? Dhume also gives a lesson on the religious demographics in India and how the caste system actually works.

Show Notes:
—Dhume at the Wall Street Journal
—Dhume’s book, My Friend the Fanatic: Travels with a Radical Islamist
—Dhume: Indian Muslims Flunk the Israel Test

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Comments (24)
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  1. Avatar photo
    Kweber

    Very interested in having Dhume make a return visit to The Remnant in the near future. There was obviously a lot of ground Jonah wanted to cover that they didn't touch. I had no idea Kevin Williamson had India subject matter knowledge...please, have them both on at once! There is no rule stating that The Remnant is a Jonah-only zone from the perspective of The Dispatch.

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  2. Frederickwf

    I liked this one a lot

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    CJ White

    I love this style of episode, learned a lot! I'd like to see Jonah do more of this, maybe Mexico next!

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  4. Payette

    This was a great interview! I hadn't realize how terribly ignorant I was about India.

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  5. Austin from Atlanta

    Sadanand's point on the remittances was a good one. It was eye opening for me to spend time in Dubai, learning about how their society has been reordered to accommodate a massive influx of southwest-Asian workers. I believe it's between a quarter-and-a-third of all Dubai residents are from the Indian subcontinent, dominating the labor force of some industries. Almost all are male.

    There were times I was on jam-packed subway cars, where, with no exaggeration, the cart was 98% southwest-asian males.

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  6. Austin from Atlanta

    I've kind of traveled the world with a friend from our India business unit (catch dinner together after meetings abroad we both attend.)

    In his telling, the choice on Modi is the choice between a glorious future of continued growth, westernization, business development, uplift from poverty, etc. OR regressing toward a global backwater.

    Of course, he is a proud Hindu who named his children after various Hindu deities. My friend is compelling when he makes his case, but I also, of course, hear the ring of partisanship in his analysis. One can easily hear progressives saying democracy dies if they don't win and conservatives saying the country plunges into poverty and autocracy if they don't win. Seems the analysis around Modi is not so different.

    People are people.

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  7. Hartzlk

    When I saw the title of this episode, I knew I needed to clear my podcast schedule. Great interview! I learned a lot. Great questions, great answers.

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  8. C.Webb

    I'd love more country specific deep-dives like this. Countries like Korea, Japan, Pakistan or others that play critical roles in US foreign policy.

    Great episode.

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    John Will

    Really loved this episode. Extremely informative.

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  10. RaoD

    I thought Mr. Dhume provided a balanced picture of India today. I think he was a little more negative on Mr. Modi than his record demands. An important part of Modi’s appeal is his commitment to the advancement of India — he often talks about India’s progress being a zero sum game. I don’t remember any other Indian leader with similar record of hard work and commitment.

    Most of the Western media presents India’s story as starting with Moguls and peaking under UK. Viewed from that angle Hindhutva sounds very paleo nationalistic. It’s like stating that Israel started in 1940’s. Many of the listeners have heard of Taj Mahal a glittering example of Mogul architecture. But how many of you have heard of Nalanda University or Ajanta/Ellora caves. I think in someways Hindhutva (as espoused by Modi) is to instill confidence among the masses that India had history of its own.

    A key question is will some of the changes he is pushing have lasting impact on India’s democracy?

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