Time right for India to create global norms, benchmarks: Sanjeev Sanyal

KOLKATA, Aug 8 (PTI): India should be confident enough to deconstruct the rest of the world on its own
terms as a rising economic power, creating global norms and benchmarks in various fields, Sanjeev
Sanyal, Member of the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister, said.
Sanyal said India should no longer be bound by benchmarks that are decided by third parties, and in
which the country has no role in framing.
The noted economist was speaking at the launch of the Sovereign Risk Assessment Framework by
CareEdge Ratings here on Monday evening.
“For the very first time, an Indian rating agency will assign sovereign ratings to the rest of the world…
This is an important thing for us as a rising economic power to get used to doing. All this while, we
allowed other people to deconstruct us; it’s time we get confident enough to deconstruct the rest of the
world on our terms,” Sanyal said.
He said the country also needs to come up with global norms in various other fields like medical
benchmarks and Environmental, Social & Governance (ESG) standards.
“Our political leadership is visible…but we need to begin to create more institutional systems… like our
own ESG norms, sovereign ratings, global benchmarks for technology and regulations,” Sanyal told PTI.
CareEdge Ratings MD and CEO Mehul Pandya said sovereign risk assessments in the post pandemic
world have gained added importance, and require a holistic approach.
“Continued rise in government debt, changing composition of global GDP, sustained low global GDP
growth and expectation of higher interest rates for longer periods on the back of stubborn inflation are
fundamentally altering the credit profiles of sovereigns,” Pandya said.
The agency will likely begin releasing sovereign ratings of individual countries by the end of 2023, after
due statutory approvals.
“You can critique the methodology, and the world can look at it and tell us where we can improve… And
over time, it will hopefully get adopted by the global community; in a sense we will have an important
say in the way the world sees itself,” Sanyal said.
The EAC-PM member also took umbrage over the way in which countries like India are ranked in other
global indices and benchmarks.
“There are other kinds of ratings, too, where these are completely off kilter… for example you will see
India, the world’s largest democracy, is placed 102 or 106 or some such absurd ranking in the
‘democracy index’. Similar is the case with the ‘freedom of speech index’ or the ‘happiness index’,”
Sanyal added.