India, US are natural partners against China: Indra Nooyi
New York : Former PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi underscores the critical importance of the India-US partnership in the ongoing geopolitical competition with China, highlighting India's unique democratic strengths and future global contributions.
Indra Nooyi identifies India and the US as "natural partners" essential for global stability.
India's role is pivotal in the geopolitical competition against China, given its democratic values and demographic advantages.
Nooyi stresses the importance of mutual understanding between Indian and US leaders to navigate bilateral relationship fluctuations.
She contrasts India's democratic "chaos" with China's centralised system, acknowledging the slower but valuable progress of democracy.
India's young, English-speaking population and professional diaspora are crucial for the world's future.
India and the United States are "natural partners" and the Asian giant is a very pivotal country given America's geopolitical competition with China, former chairman and CEO of PepsiCo Indra Nooyi has said.
She made the comments on Wednesday during a conversation with Condoleezza Rice, former Secretary of State and Tad and Dianne Taube Director of the Hoover Institution at Stanford University.
"I think that the US and India are natural partners, should be natural partners," Nooyi said.
India's Pivotal Role In Global Geopolitics : "It's a very, very important relationship for both countries, and I hope it stays that way. And I think to the extent that we remain in a geopolitical competition or race versus China, I think India becomes a very pivotal country, because you don't want that part of the world being taken over by China, which is a logical partner," she said.
"I think, given the bad neighbourhood that India is in, it's critically important (that) the US protects India and allows democracy to thrive," she added.
Nooyi said India, being the largest democracy in the world with a young, English-speaking population, is going to be pivotal to the future of the world, including the contributions its engineering graduates, software and AI professionals and diaspora will make.
Navigating India-US Relations : On the recent downturn in India-US ties, Nooyi said, "I think all countries go through ups and downs in their relationships over time, and it has to be reset every now and then."
"I just hope that whoever's in the leadership position in the US walks a mile in the shoes of the leader of India, and I do hope the leader of India always walks a mile in the shoes of the US, because each one has to look at each other's country through that lens," she said.
Contrasting India's Democracy With China's System : On India and China, she said competition in China is "pretty aggressive" and it is a relatively homogeneous country.
"As a visitor going there and spending some time, it's easier to do that in China than it is in India. India is a chaotic country. The beauty of India lies in its chaos, absolute chaos".
And if you are familiar with India, you've travelled in India before, and you like that chaos all around you, you go back, it's like a drug, you get addicted to it.
"But if you like order, if you like clean living, India is going to be impossible to take. When you see cows on the road, along with the cars, you go, 'What the hell is going on here?'" Nooyi said.
"We are very spoilt in the United States. That's another thing I tell my kids: look at our environment, look at the orderliness that exists here," she said.
"But China versus India, I respect the Chinese system for what it did to pull China out of the dark ages, and they've become a world power because they did it centrally.
India (is) still struggling to be a world power because democracy rules, and when everybody has a vote, and everybody has a say, progress is slow, but I'm glad it is that way," Nooyi said.
