The influential American economist of Indian origin said it was possible for India to have a long period of strong growth and become a developed economy, while many developed nations are vulnerable to geopolitical turmoil.

“We will definitely make it. In contrast, many of the developed economies are not sound at all, as they are more affected by geopolitical stress points like the Russia-Ukraine conflict. They are also going to get involved in what happens with China in the Far East. So, we can no longer count on the western powers to remain ahead.” 

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“We, on the other hand, are not involved in such events at the moment. Therefore, if we keep up where we are now in terms of our current outstanding rate of growth and everything that finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Prime Minister Narendra Modi talked about, if that keeps up, we will be way ahead of the West,” Bhagwati said.

“So I am optimistic on that ground.”

Bhagwati was referring to Modi’s pledge last week to carry out structural reforms and inclusive growth, where he emphasized that the first three months of the National Democratic Alliance government’s third term in office was marked by a strong commitment to jobs and skills, sustainable growth, innovation, infrastructure building, quality of life and rapid growth.

Sitharaman has also expressed confidence that there would be “the steepest rise” in living standards in India in coming days.

The finance ministry had in its monthly economic review for August noted that trends indicated a strong foundation of macroeconomic stability in the country with steady growth, investment, employment and inflation trends, but flagged continued uncertainty in global economic prospects and advised monitoring of trends like the buildup of automobile inventory and slowing of fast-moving consumer goods in urban areas in the June quarter. Policymakers also are keeping an eye on fears of a recession in advanced economies.

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Bhagwati believes India should act fast and get a bigger share in global supply chains.

“With the global supply chain involving China getting broken, instead of moving in, we allowed other countries to break into it. Bangladesh was one of them. We have to make sure that we build up our own supply chains. We are thinking about it, but we have to move fast because if other supply chains get established, then it is all the more difficult to break into them,” he said.

To get a larger share of global trade, India also has to be more competitive and lower tariffs will help, he said. “Imports and exports are not independent; they are linked together. For exports to work and to build supply chains, we have to be able to import raw materials and components which make our supplies more competitive. If you suddenly run out of components, who will trust your supply chain? Certainty of supply chain is a very critical aspect. We have to be very smart,” Bhagwati said. Lower tariffs enable countries to import more and feed their supply chains, he said.

“Sometimes in the political economy, we see pressure getting built up to lower tariffs,” Bhagwati said, referring to former US president Donald Trump’s description of Indian customs tariffs as high. Trump, who had described India a “tariff king” in his first term in office, said in September India was an “abuser” of tariffs.

Last year, India reduced customs duty on several products imported from the US, including apples, almonds, lentils and chickpeas. That was part of removal of retaliatory duty imposed on US exports in 2019 after the US raised import duty on certain items.

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“We have to be active with the World Trade Organization to make sure the things of interest to us remain free from trade tariffs and restrictions. And I think we are aware of that,” Bhagwati said.

The only way India can take full advantage of its demographic dividend is by attracting investment in new productive capacity in both manufacturing and services, which can employ people, he said.

“There are two ways to do it. One is to invest yourself and the other is to invite foreign capital. In our case, foreign capital is willing to come in and create jobs because we have skilled manpower… We have to maximize that advantage and try and say look, ‘We will give you good terms and so on, come and invest and use our manpower,’ because the skilled manpower also then gets doubly trained and get additional skills. Thus, it creates the manpower resources for more investments to come in. It has a virtuous, snowballing effect.”

CNN
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Three years after fleeing Iran, chess referee Shohreh Bayat fears being further ostracized after challenging the game’s governing body and its president, Russia’s former deputy prime minister, over her choice of clothing at a tournament in October.

Back in 2020, Bayat was criticized in Iran for not wearing the appropriate headscarf at the Women’s World Chess Championship in China and Russia. She refused to bow to the regime’s pressure but, as a result, has not returned home out of fear of punishment.

Now, three years on, Bayat has raised the hackles of the International Chess Federation (FIDE) and its president for wearing clothes in support of the Iranian protests and the people of Ukraine.

The 35-year-old Bayat, who now lives in London with her husband, recently officiated at the 2022 Fischer Random World Chess Championship in Reykjavik, Iceland, in October.

The tournament was another opportunity for Bayat to officiate some of the sport’s biggest stars, though it came at a difficult time as protests spread across her home country of Iran after the death of Mahsa Amini.

The 22-year-old Kurdish-Iranian woman died in mid-September after being detained by the country’s morality police, allegedly for not abiding by the country’s conservative dress code, sparking outrage around a range of grievances with the regime.

“It reminded me of my own story,” Bayat told CNN. “So I decided to stand up for women’s rights in Iran. During the tournament I wore a t-shirt with the motto of Iranian people ‘WomanLifeFreedom’ and I wanted to stand with them.”

Bayat said that after the first day of wearing the t-shirt, a FIDE official asked her, unofficially, to not wear it.

In a statement sent to CNN, FIDE said that “arbiters at top events are required to dress in due decor and discretion” and that Bayat “disregarded direct instructions given to her to stop wearing slogans or mottos.”

According to Bayat, such regulations are not found in FIDE’s arbiter handbook and she says no dress code was given for the event in Iceland.

The arbiter’s handbook does say officials must “follow the dress code” and that they must be “dressed properly, helping to improve the image of chess as a sport.” CNN has reached out to FIDE to clarify the dress code that was expected for the October event.

Frustrated by the request to stop wearing the slogan, Bayat said she decided she was not breaking any rules so she wore it again the next day.

Bayat says she was once again asked by an official to take it off, only this time she was told the request came from FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich, who previously served as Russia’s deputy prime minister and who attended the tournament in Iceland.

Bayat said Dvorkovich never spoke to her in person about the t-shirt, despite being in the same room as her when she wore it.

Dvorkovich, however, messaged her on WhatsApp – messages seen by CNN – to request Bayat not use official FIDE events for “political purposes.”

Angered by Dvorkovich’s request, Bayat says she quickly responded but then deleted her “emotional” reply.

Bayat then informed Dvorkovich she would not wear the t-shirt the next day, though she wanted to do the “right thing.”

Given that FIDE’s charter states that it is “committed to respecting all internationally recognized human rights and shall strive to promote the protection of these rights,” Bayat said she decided she had not violated any rule.

“I thought carefully, and I realized that it is not me that was making chess political but Arkady,” Bayat said.

“I was following FIDE rules, but Arkady was breaking them by forbidding me to stand up for women’s rights in Iran.”

FIDE refuted any notion that politics played a part in Dvorkovich’s request to Bayat.

“We were not judging her views or her activism, but the platform and moment she chose for it,” FIDE told CNN.

The following day, Bayat, who has not seen her parents since leaving Iran over three years ago, said she bought a blue and yellow outfit and wore it in support of the Ukrainian people fighting against the Russian invasion, and also in memory of the 176 people that were killed when Iran said it unintentionally shot down a Ukrainian plane that crashed near Tehran in 2020.

She says nothing was said to her about the blue and yellow outfit but, since leaving the tournament in Iceland, Bayat told CNN that she hasn’t been invited to another FIDE event, despite the organization recognizing her as the best female arbiter in Europe in 2022.

Bayat said she was initially removed from the arbiter commission – a registry of all qualified arbiters – and, in a message seen by CNN, a top FIDE official told her it was because of her outfits in Iceland.

Her name is currently listed on the database and FIDE told CNN that Bayat was still very much in contention to officiate future events but that it has “more International Arbiters than world events, so we need to establish some rotation.”

FIDE President Dvorkovich was first elected in 2018 and was re-elected for a second term in August. Previously, the 50-year-old served as Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister between 2012-2018 following a stint as the Kremlin’s top economic adviser.

The Kremlin welcomed Dvorkovich being reelected as FIDE president last year, but he has always maintained his proximity to the Kremlin would not impact his work for FIDE and noted that he was one of the most senior establishment figures in Russia to question the war in Ukraine.

However, Bayat told CNN she believes Dvorkovich is not accepting criticism of Iran due to Russia’s links with the country – Iran continues to support Russia with military aid for the war in Ukraine.

She notes FIDE’s handling of the Iranian Chess Federation as further evidence of this.

Dvorkovich wrote a letter urging Iran to comply with FIDE’s regulations in 2020 after it allegedly told its players to not play against Israeli opponents.

The acting president of Iran’s Chess Federation responded, saying that Iran has constantly been in compliance with FIDE’s rules and statutes, and that the athletes themselves decide in which events to participate.

Despite being given a warning, Iranian players are still forfeiting games and FIDE has not yet taken concrete action.

“I find it extremely ironic that FIDE finds my human rights t-shirt political, but when the Iran Chess Federation repeatedly forces its players not to play against Israel, FIDE is silent and turns a blind eye to that,” Bayat said.

Asked by CNN whether it was confident Dvorkovich was working without pressure from Russian authorities in regards to Bayat’s support of the Iranian protests, FIDE said it had total and absolute faith in him.

“While we respect Ms. Bayat’s political stance and activities, any FIDE officials need to follow political neutrality while on duty, and of all the official positions one can hold, that of an arbiter is the one that demands higher standards of integrity, neutrality, and discretion,” FIDE said in a statement to CNN.

“No matter how noble or uncontroversial the cause is, doing activism from that role is inappropriate and unprofessional. She was indeed asked not to wear any slogans while acting as an arbiter and explained the reasons why.”

Bayat’s activism has attracted the attention of the biggest names in the sport after the Iranian chess referee tweeted about the incident again on Sunday.

US grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura recently tweeted “#WomenLifeFreedom #IStandWithUkraine” in response to a message about Bayat’s tweet.

Meanwhile, chess superstar Magnus Carlsen’s coach Peter Heine Nielsen tweeted: “The chess world needs to make up its mind. On which side do we actually stand?”

Bayat, who now also works in primary schools teaching chess, said the support she’s received has been “heartwarming,” as it was when she first sought asylum in England back in 2020.

“I was initially trying to support Iranian women. I think that’s important and it’s very nice to see other people are supporting me for doing the right thing,” she said.