The US has apparently decided to buttress what should be a natural ally, if they can get all of the nutty socialism out of their system.

That is the interesting thing. India has a social-ist economy, but the country is a democracy. While China has a capitalist economy (in several places at least, striving to turn the rest into one) but is ruled by oligarchs.

One big sticking point for India are intellectual property issues for things like pharma products. Their vast impoverished population requires cheap access to meds (they cannot afford the IP licensing fees demanded by pharma companies). India has big issues with AIDS, lingering issues with malaria and other diseases. Although they seem to be bowing to pressure recently.

China also has some IP issues, the state has tried to solve that by paying a single large lump sum of cash, but western technology companies have, hm, been less than cooperative with chinese companies despite billions being paid. Their counter strategy has been to create patents pools to shield Chinese companies from patent infringment claims.

Propping up India makes sense to develop a regional counter-weight to China. The traditional ally of the USA in the region, Pakistan, is fickle and has sold USA military technology to China before (but then again so has Israel).

Never a dull moment in that region. I am expecting a lot of friction because of large energy scarcity in India.

Good summary, Gojira. One thing that makes me a uncomfortable is that the US seems to be going to unusual lengths to prop up Pakistan. I wonder if the "seers" of Washington (ie, the CIA and related agencies) are warning of the potential loss of Pakistan to Islamic fundamentalism over the relatively near future?

India is a natural ally of the United States. And they will be a major world power whether we "help them" or not.

I am a huge fan of economist Amartya Sen, who seeks to chart a third way between the "Social Darwinism" form of capitalism and state social-ism.

Rabindranath Tagore is another Indian giant and an intellectual hedge against too much Gandhi-ism. IMHO, he would look with favor at India becoming a 21st century melting pot blending ideas from every major civilization and just as the 19th century melting pot created the United States, this new melting pot has great potential.

What does it mean to say that India has a social-ist economy?

I would guess that the first and largest slice of the
indian economy is illegal. Illegal because costs of
compliance with government rules are so excessive as to
rule out the activity otherwise or because some crucial
part of the capital (land) on which the activity is based
is not legally recognized by the state (and again cost of
making the ownership legal in the eyes of the state is
prohibitive).

In part because it is illegal, it's hard to compare this
sector to others, but in terms of percent of the population
who make their living so this would be the largest.

The second largest sector, as measured by percent of the
population engaged in it, would be capitalist. This would
be people who are directed by and respond to the market --
a market shared in fact with the illegals. The capitalists
are largely in compliance with the laws of the state and
their assets are both officially sanctioned and nominally
protected by the state.

The smallest sector, in this three sector generalization,
would be the social-ist but it's the elite sector because it's
pampered by the state, because much of the money that the state
gathers goes to its support, and because it is not directed
by nor is it constrained by the market.

In such a system the middle class bends all its effort
to finding positions for its children in the social-ist
sector. Failing that they hope for a capitalist occupation.
And failing that, the choice is to starve or become an
illegal.

(By the way, why is posting blocked if I spell social-ist
as it should be?)

"(By the way, why is posting blocked if I spell social-ist
as it should be?)"

If you remove the 'so' and the 't' from that word you have the name of a drug which is frequently spammed.

-S