How would this come about and what implications could it have? Are there alternative trajectories that this journey could take? What would this rise in stature mean for the rest of the world and for the existing powers? What would it mean for people within the country? How would our polity and society evolve in a scenario like this? While there are many possible scenarios that can be imagined, let us focus on what seems like the most natural path that Brand India could possibly take.

Led by rapid growth in the Indian market, which doubled every five years, India’s clout in the world began increasing exponentially. Its biggest rival, China, outstripped India till 2015, when, following a slump in the world’s appetite for its products, which could not sustain their price advantage, huge riots broke out all over China, forcing a substantial dilution in the power of the Communist regime. Growth declined, and China spent the next decade looking inwards. In the meantime, India invested heavily in emerging sectors like entertainment, nanotechnology and biotechnology and emerged as a leader in the new area of bio-humanitics, the fusion of the human, digital and mechanical.

Meanwhile, Indian soft power continued to grow, with Bollywood majors buying into Hollywood studios. The combination of economic and cultural power made Brand India a formidable engine of global trends. On the back of this new influence that India enjoyed, a new generation of Indian brands were created, that started replacing Western brands on shelves across the world. The loss of pre-eminence created a cascading impact on American and European economies as they plunged into a state of prolonged stagnation. Indian companies started buying large chunks of the once-dominant Western companies. Along with economic power came a growing military presence, and by 2022, India could no longer be denied a permanent seat on the UN Security Council even as UK and France were downgraded as permanent invitees, with the veto power. Indian influence grew beyond the sub-continent, as it intervened successfully through its army in the Great Indonesian Meltdown in 2028. The rise in stature also made India a target of global terrorism that it managed to contain through a tough system of internal surveillance.The new self-confidence in Indian society created a generation of megalo-Indians, who exercised power with a blend of ruthlessness and opportunism.

The truth is, it is impossible to picture the future in any meaningful way. When we talk about the future we are really re-presenting a version of the past as a possible future. In this case, the moment we start thinking in terms of domination, the future inevitably starts darkening. The language of dominance posits that for every winner, there must be many losers. So if a Brand India dominates the world, it will perhaps do so in ways not very different from others who have done so in the past.

The real way in which Brand India could cast a lasting influence is through the power of the idea it represents. It understands the power of sustainable co-existence.