2.1. ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMPARISON

Even with their impressive growth rates in recent years, and despite their emergence in terms of absolute GNP among the world's top ten, both China and India remain excruciatingly poor countries; more so India than China. Table 2.1 below attests to this reality. In 2007, in terms of GNP, China with US$ 3,250 billion ranks third, while India with US$ 1,132 billion ranks tenth. This has given leaders of the two Asian giants' seats on the global high table. Although, when it comes to ranking in terms of per capita income (2005), which is a truer indicator of the condition of the common people, China and India drop off from the first page. India ranks 92nd and China is now just in the 71st place. In recent years, we tend to use purchasing-power-parity (PPP) figures as they show us in a better light, but do not get any better when it comes to ranking, as China and India are ranked 62nd and 82nd respectively.

Even after tinkering with PPP figures, it remains a fact that both countries have stubborn problems with poverty. If we adopt the UNDP's yardstick of US$ 2 a day to provide for basic human needs with a modest modicum of quality in living standards, both China and India still fare poorly. Again, India is more so than China (see Table 2.2 and Table 2.3). But what should trouble the Indian leadership is that the pace of improvement in China seems to offer the prospect of achieving a more egalitarian society in the foreseeable future, while a time frame for a similar situation in India is difficult to pinpoint. Mind you, in a rapidly changing world, relative expectations also rapidly change. This poses yet another challenge (see Table 2.4 and Table 2.5).