?India to pip China in GDP growth?

India will have a GDP growth that is higher than that of China in the next few years, according to Oxus Research and Investment chairman Surjit Bhalla. Bhalla was addressing delegates at the fourth global meeting of the Emerging Markets Forum here on Wednesday.

In the session titled ?India and the World?Makings of a responsible global citizen,? Bhalla said, that while India will post a GDP growth of more than 9%, China ?s growth rate will be below 8% in the not so distant future. The strides that India has taken in the last few years need to be taken into consideration. For instance, growth in the rural areas has been so significant, that more than 50% of the income from rural areas comes from the services sector, and not agriculture.

Bhalla also said that China should take the lead in climate change issues. At the same time, India should not remain confined to the issues of South Asia . Organisations like the Asian Development Bank have a key role to play in facilitating India emerge to take a leadership position.

The more powerful a country becomes, the more responsibilities it has in the global economic and political arenas, said Martin Wolf, associate editor and chief economics commentator, The Financial Times . If India has the objective to play a role in the global economic and political stage, it needs to address some of the key issues on the trade, economical and political front, Wolf added.

?The era of unquestioned Western architecture is over,? Wolf said. Particularly interesting is the US decline.

Ishrat Husain, director, Institute of Business Administration and former governor of the National Bank of Pakistan, said that despite terrorism in some parts of the country, Pakistan had grown at the rate of 7%. Even countries like Bangladesh and Sri Lanka have been performing well.

Bangladesh is a rapidly growing country, with a growth rate of 5%. Sri Lanka has done well in economic growth and poverty alleviation. He said it is unfortunate that there is no think tank in India that does studies on India ?s neighbours.