Asia | The elephant in a boom

America is courting India in part for its growing economic clout

But a young population may not be enough to sustain rapid growth

A man transports sacks on a rickshaw at a market in New Delhi, India. — Image: Reuters

Jun 13th 2023

FEW visitors can expect the sort of welcome Narendra Modi, India’s prime minister, will receive in Washington later this month. Joe Biden, America’s president, is throwing a formal banquet for him at the White House. The leaders of the two chambers of Congress, not to be outdone, have invited him to address a joint session for the second time—an honour previously accorded only to the likes of Winston Churchill. The visit will, in the words of a gushing White House press release, “affirm the deep and close partnership between the United States and India”.

This article appeared in the Asia section of the print edition under the headline “Forward march”