Why is India a Third World Country?
Before anyone takes offense to the term "Third World" being used in reference to India, let's talk about what exactly is a third world nation. Even though the term is usually used to refer to poor, non-industrialized countries, the term originated during Cold War. It was used to refer to nations that did not align with either US, Western Europe and their allies nor with the Communist Bloc (Soviet Union, China and their allies). Pandit Nehru instead was influenced by different things from both the First and Second World. The five year plans were inspired by Soviet Union's five year plans. However, he preferred Gandhiji's non- violence to their armed revolution. He also preferred Western ideas of electoral democracy over a single party rule (and freedom of press). While people may (rightly) have different opinions on Nehru's politics, the idea of choosing the best from a myriad options seems like a good idea to me. Third World doesn't seem so bad after all