Asia Power Index: India ranks fourth in Asia-Pacific region

India was ranked fourth out of 25 nations in Asia-Pacific region in the inaugural Asia Power Index released by Australian think tank Lowy Institute.

Asia Power Index

It measures overall power of countries and territories in Asia-Pacific region. A country’s overall power is its weighted average across eight measures of power – economic resources, military capability, diplomatic influence, economic relationships, resilience, future trends, defence networks and cultural influence.

Key Facts

Three of the world’s four largest economies are in Asia and United States is Pacific power. By 2025, two-thirds of world’s population will live in Asia, compared to just over a tenth in the West. According to it, US remained to be pre-eminent power in Asia, while China, an emerging superpower is rapidly closing in on United States.
It ranked Russia, South Korea, Australia, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, New Zealand, Vietnam, Taiwan, Pakistan, Philippines and North Korea as middle powers, while Bangladesh, Myanmar, Brunei, Cambodia, Sri Lanka, Mongolia, Laos and Nepal as “minor powers.”
The index held that Japan and India are countries sharing major power status. It labelled Japan as smart power and called India giant of future. India was ranked fourth on parameters of economic resources, military capability and diplomatic influence. It was ranked fifth on resilience. However, on the parameters of cultural influence and future trends, India scored well by ranking third in both. India also scored low on measure of economic relationships and defence networks, ranking seventh and seventh respectively.

Month: Current Affairs - May, 2018