The worry about good intentions.

 Following Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'Make in India' plan, "As many as 11 global handset and input makers -- Foxconn and Samsung among them -- are reported to have qualified for special incentives spanning five years, along with five domestic entities, including the makers of Lava and Micromax devices. The government expects the initiative to result in output worth Rs 10.5 trillion over a decade, about 60% of it from exports," wrote an editorial in the Mint. Unfortunately, the cowardly ambush of Indian soldiers by Chinese troops in Ladakh in June, the uncontrolled spread coronavirus infections and the severe contraction of the economy this year creates doubts as to how much foreign companies would be willing to invest in India. "Even as Indian troops have been engaged in a tense confrontation with China since April, the share of Chinese imports in India's trade basket has only gone up, despite the rhetoric of 'self-reliance'," wrote Nikita Kwatra. "The grouping of four democracies -- India, Australia, US and Japan -- known as the quadrilateral security dialogue or quad, was first mooted by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in 2007." However, at a meeting of the quad a few days back, no one except US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo dared to mention China. "There was no mention of China or the problems arising from its provocative moves in Ladakh or in the larger Indo-Pacific region, in the Indian statement." Because, "Japan, the US, Australia are all dependent on supplies from China to manufacture products that they export." Not just supplies, "According to data from Refinitiv, a financial solutions firm, since 2015, private equity (PE) firms from China have invested $3.3 billion in India, largely in firms catering to the internet-based economy," wrote Kwatra and Devulapalli. "In what can been seen as a silent retaliation against India, China has hiked prices of key starting materials (KSMs), used for making medicines, by 10-20 percent." "It doesn't look like India sees itself as the world's next factory, which requires openness. Emboldened by its recent free trade agreement with the European Union, Vietnam may be more suited to playing that role, even though the Southeast Asian nation of fewer than 100 million people lacks India's labor power," wrote Andy Mukherjee. Then there are the civil servants, more specifically the Indian Administrative Service or IAS, which is like a steel noose around India's throat. "The IAS is possibly the most powerful professional association in the country and will likely be resistant to any reform that encroaches on its authority," reported Reuters. "India's employer regulatory cholesterol universe is vast: 1,536 Acts that create 69,233 compliances and 6,618 filings every year. More painfully, this changed eight times a day last year," wrote Sabharwal and Agrawal. "The answer is that India continues to be a world beater in terms of bureaucratic 'killer apps', or rules and regulations that trip business-folk at every step," wrote R Jagannathan. Intentions are good. We must be careful where we end up.