I’m back in Dubai after a short stint in Bombay and other places in India. Enjoyed the rains there and am now back to the usual sultry super-hot summer here.

While in India, some discussions happened about India being a third world country.

The term “third world” actually referred to the group of developing countries that followed the “developed economies” (free-trade rich countries, mainly the west European countries, Japan, Australia, the USA & Canada) which were called the “first world” and then the “iron curtain” communist bloc countries (including the USSR, China) which were called the “second world”.

Now most of these first world countries aren’t exactly exclusive and rich economies in the new millenium. Many middle-east countries have caught up with (or even exceeded) the economies and development of these countries (e.g., the UAE). The USA economy is suffering with adverse trade balance. Dollar has significantly slid down in the basket of world’s major currencies. Japan is just getting “even” with the balance-of-trade situation, the earlier favorable surplus is getting eroded.

On the other hand, the economies of India and China are on a huge upswing. Rupee is gaining strength day by day. Trade balance and forex surplus are riding the crest. GDP growth rate of India is one of the highest.

Is India then really a third world country?

One stream of thoughts and views reclassified the world economies (and countries) differently. This stream newly defined the classes as,

Bloc one, countries in western hemisphere and in NATO alliance, mainly democratic regimes.

Bloc two, Islamic bloc, the countries where the governance is islam-based and most of these are straddled on oil & gas resources of the world.

Bloc three, the neutral democratic countries with high economic development. Would include pacific rim countries with democratic govts (incl Japan), India, Brazil, etc.

Bloc four, all other countries.

This classification seems reasonably accurate and fair. My own view point is that, though Indian economy is getting stone-solid, India is still suffering from “pocket” syndrome. The riches and population of India tend to get into “pockets” and don’t come out once there. This causes unfair and uneven distribution of wealth and population. This is the major ill of the Indian society and it’s mainly started by our governing systems and political leadership which the populace emulated.  

Any thoughts on this from any of you???