India on our Minds
‘India on our Minds’ is an excellent book on India edited by Professor Tommy Koh and Hernaikh Singh. The book is both comprehensive and readable. It is divided into three parts – past, present and future. It has 50 short chapters written by Singaporeans (friends of India) from a variety of backgrounds – diplomats, journalists, lawyers, politicians, historians, members of the business community, public officials, economists, academics, those who work in the cultural sector and last but definitely not the least, novelists. Each chapter has its own style; many draw on personal experiences; others are more fact-based and have a more formal tone. The result is both a nuanced and accurate view of Indian culture and society; and India-Singapore relations. This book should be read by anyone who is interested in India, it may have been written for Singaporeans, but Indians would benefit from reading it as well. It will give them both an outsiders view of their country and an insider-outsider view as some chapters are written by ethnic Indians who are naturalized Singaporeans.
Like many first-time visitors, many are struck by India’s contrasts. A novelist puts it best. She writes:
“The cycle of life and the battle to survive it – birth and death, poverty and wealth, human darkness and the light of transcendence – can all be openly observed on any Indian pavement.”
I found some of the historical and cultural accounts the most interesting and illuminating due to my limited knowledge of both Indian and Singaporean history. Examples include the mutiny by Indian sepoys at Alexandra Barracks in 1915; the formation of the ‘Rani of Jhansi’ regiment (women’s regiment in the Indian National Army) in Singapore by Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose and his declaration of the independence of India at the Cathay Building in October 1943; the ‘Singapore stone’ erected at the mouth of the Singapore river somewhere between the 10th and 13th centuries and destroyed by the British in 1843; it had one or more inscriptions in Sanskrit.
It is difficult to review a book by 50 authors, so I highlight just two economic themes. The first is the difficulty of navigating the business environment India and second, which comes up most frequently, is India’s last-minute withdrawal from the RCEP negotiations by Indian Prime Minister Modi.
India is a difficult place to do business. According to one author who has done business both in China and India, the hurdles include:
“… excessive bureaucratic regulations, poor infrastructure and a legal system that lacks transparency and prone to persistent political interference at all levels of the government.”
The “obstacles and confusion” had left in the author “a sense of doubt and cynicism” and he was “permanently bruised by the experience”.
The infrastructure may have improved since, but other obstacles remain. One businessman appears to have taken both the “joys and sorrows” in his stride despite the well-known problems of land acquisition and lack of coordination in the bureaucracy – one department gives permission and another tries to create obstacles after the project is complete. Yet this person persisted and concluded many successful projects in India. It is no wonder that both foreign direct and portfolio investment is exiting India and the production linked incentives scheme has been set aside since there were few takers other than Apple. In any case, why should foreigners increase investment if domestic businesses don’t want to?
India’s decision to withdraw from the RCEP has been described as “historic blunder” and a missed opportunity to forge closer ties between ASEAN and India. India has a trade in goods agreement with ASEAN and it has a trade deficit. It expected the deficit to widen if it signed the RCEP partly because of exports from China.
As far as the trade deficit with ASEAN is concerned, the view from Singapore is different. One author suggests that the trade agreement is:
“… not well utilized due to lack of information and awareness on the part of Indian domestic producers and the complex rules of origin.”
This is probably closer to the truth, FTAs are easy to sign, but difficult to implement and countries often pay more attention to signing deals than to trade facilitation and removing domestic barriers to exports. Governments need to be spend time and resources to explain the new rules and opportunities to the business community; new capabilities need to be built particularly for the inspection of food-related items as some countries have very strict sanitary and phytosanitary regulations.
As far as Singapore is concerned, the door is still open but it appears India will not enter. RCEP appears to be a ‘trigger’ for Indian Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal. It sets him off. He criticizes the previous Congress government for pursuing an agreement which would have been bad for India and he refers to some ASEAN countries as “China’s B-team”. He is of the view that it is better for India to sign FTAs with complementary economies in the West.
Singapore is always open to more cooperation with India. The Amravati partnership which is discussed in the book is a good example. In 2014 an MOU was signed between Singapore and the government of Andhra Pradesh for Singapore to develop the masterplan for the Andhra Pradesh’s new capital city Amravati. The Chief Minister at the time was Mr. Chandrababu Naidu. The MOU was set aside in 2019 when a different political party assumed power in Andhra Pradesh. Chandrababu Naidu was back in power in 2024 and sought to revive the partnership in 2025. Singapore was ready to re-engage, albeit in more of a technical assistance role.
The book is grounded in reality and facts, but Professor Tommy Koh’s chapter is different. It is about his dreams for India. He has many dreams for India, including an India which will be truly secular and democratic with good governance and one where poverty is eliminated. In many ways this is the most realistic chapter, since some of us have had the same dreams for many decades.
Koh, Tommy, and Hernaikh Singh, eds. (2021). India on Our Minds: Essays by Tharman Shanmugaratnam and 50 Singaporean Friends of India. Singapore: World Scientific Publishing.
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