The dawn of the New Year will find the ruling coalition in a sombre mood. On the face of it, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh can claim, and with some justice, that he has made India a major player in the emerging world order. No other rising power has after all had the heads of state of the Permanent Five of the UN come calling in the space of six months. In contrast to its first avatar when foreign policy issues came close to threatening the very survival of the government, the ship is now on an even keel.
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But it is on the home front, that things look set to unravel. Even nine per cent economic growth, a major accomplishment against the back drop of a still sluggish global economy is not enough to uplift spirits.
The nub of the problem is that since re-election, there has been no major initiative from government or ruling party to seize the political high ground.
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