History of India (1947–present)
The history of independent India or history of Republic of India began when the country became an independent sovereign state within the British Commonwealth on 15 August 1947. Direct administration by the British, which began in 1858, affected a political and economic unification of the subcontinent. When British rule came to an end in 1947, the subcontinent was partitioned along religious lines into two separate countries—India, with a majority of Hindus, and Pakistan, with a majority of Muslims.[1] Concurrently the Muslim-majority northwest and east of British India was separated into the Dominion of Pakistan, by the Partition of India. The partition led to a population transfer of more than 10 million people between India and Pakistan and the death of about one million people. Indian National Congress leader Jawaharlal Nehru became the first Prime Minister of India, but the leader most associated with the independence struggle, Mahatma Gandhi, accepted no office. The constitution adopted in 1950 made India a democratic republic with Westminster style parliamentary system of government, both at federal and state level respectively. The democracy has been sustained since then. India's sustained democratic freedoms are unique among the world's newly independent states.[2]
The country has faced religious violence, naxalism, terrorism, separatist insurgencies in North East India and gender-based violence. India has unresolved territorial disputes with China which escalated into a war in 1962 and 1967, and with Pakistan which resulted in wars in 1947–1948, 1965, 1971 and 1999. India was neutral in the Cold War, and was a leader in the Non-Aligned Movement. However, it made a loose alliance with the Soviet Union from 1971, when Pakistan was allied with the United States and the People's Republic of China.
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India is a nuclear-weapon state, having conducted its first nuclear test in 1974, followed by another five tests in 1998. From the 1950s to the 1980s, India followed socialist-inspired policies. The economy was influenced by extensive regulation, protectionism and public ownership, leading to pervasive corruption and slow economic growth. Since 1991, India has pursued more economic liberalisation. Today, India is the third largest and one of the fastest-growing economies in the world.
From being a relatively struggling country in its formative years,[3] the Republic of India has emerged as a fast growing G20 major economy.[4][5] India has sometimes been referred to as a great power and a potential superpower given its large and growing economy, military and population.[6][7][8][9]
- ^ "India | History, Map, Population, Economy, & Facts". Encyclopædia Britannica. Archived from the original on 12 June 2015. Retrieved 3 April 2020.
- ^ Metcalf & Metcalf 2006, p. 304.
- ^ Fisher, Michael H. (2018), An Environmental History of India: From Earliest Times to the Twenty-First Century, Cambridge University Press, p. 8, ISBN 978-1-107-11162-2, archived from the original on 25 June 2020, retrieved 27 December 2019
- ^ Metcalf, Barbara D.; Metcalf, Thomas R. (2012), A Concise History of Modern India, Cambridge University Press, pp. 265–266, ISBN 978-1-107-02649-0, archived from the original on 14 February 2020, retrieved 27 December 2019
- ^ "France, UK back India's bid for permanent UN Security Council seat". India Today. 19 November 2022.
- ^ "NIC Global Trend". Archived from the original on 16 June 2012. Retrieved 22 December 2019.
- ^ "Lowy Institute paper – The Next Economic Giant" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 June 2020. Retrieved 22 December 2019.
- ^ "India: Asia's Other Superpower Breaks Out – Newsweek: World News – MSNBC.com". 28 March 2006. Archived from the original on 28 March 2006. Retrieved 22 December 2019.
- ^ "India is quietly laying claim to economic superpower status". The Guardian. 12 September 2022. Retrieved 25 October 2022.