india tweets

"Manushya kadi balwaan nahi
Samaya sub se balwaan
Kaabe Arjuna lutiyo
Wahi dhanush wahi baan"

"Men (people or nations) are not dominant. Time is. A time will come when the invincible Arjun will be robbed by a common robber, despite the unbreakable Gandiva and the inexhaustible quiver."

A bankrupt India had to ship planeloads of its gold reserves to London to get emergency IMF loans in 1991, because of the economic policies followed by Nehru and Indira Gandhi. It was after this that India started opening up its economy. Although the process is not complete, look where it has brought us.

India recently purchased 200 tonnes of gold from the IMF at a record average price of $1045 per ounce, spending USD 6.7 billions of its forex reserves and sending gold to its highest ever price recorded in open markets.

How things have changed in the last 18 years.

In April 1991, India sold 20 tons of gold to Switzerland to raise $200 million. In July, it pawned 47 tons to the Bank of England to raise another $400 million. For what? To prevent default in short-term loans till an IMF loan came through.

India's foreign reserves then were below $1 billion, enough to pay for only two weeks of imports. They have now risen to above $271 billion, thanks to economic liberalisation that has partially unshackled India from the chains of bureaucratic red tape.

As per a news report, India has agreed to lend up to $10 billion to the IMF to help it raise funds to rescue nations facing financial trouble.

The beggar has become a big time lender. Jai Ho!