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Deciding India’s Lingua Franca: Politics, Economy, and Identity
India is perhaps the largest economy in the world and this demonstrates its ability to
influence business and culture worldwide. India’s attractive economic and cultural identity can
be attributed to its political and economic reforms over the years. Statistics indicates that the
largest foreign investor in the Indian economy is the US (Limaye 1). The nation’s cultural
identity can also be seen within its citizenry with a large number of Indian workers and managers
being reported to have an immense ability to build personal and business relationships with
others. The rapid growth of the Indian economy can be attributed to the economic, liberalization
and privatization reforms that have been instituted by the region’s leaders and political class
(Goyal & Khicha 1). In this paper, we explore India’s lingua Franca by studying its politics,
economy and identity. The research question is: What are the political, economic, and cultural
foundations of India that makes it thrive as a global economy?
Language and Culture in India
Even though a majority of India’s speaks Hindu, English has been adopted as the lingua franca
or language of commerce in the region. Imperialism and colonialism have massively affected
the linguistic and cultural diversity in India. British were the dominant colonizers of India.
Before colonization, India mostly used Hindi as the most familiar language (Joshi 2). However,
after colonization, the British introduced English to India. This language has increasingly
affected the social and cultural aspects in India in several ways. It is prudent enough to

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acknowledge the fact that language plays a critical role in any society. It has a very strong
relationship with the society. Therefore, adopting any language is liable to cause several changes
in the society. The introduction of English to India affected the Indian economy, education, and
trade in India (Joshi 2). In addition, the influence of English in the Indian culture affected the
business in India in several perspectives. Through colonialism, English found its roots in the
Indian education sector. This has led to several changes in the culture of education in India.
Indians have been using English in writing many of their literatures. In addition, English is now
an official language in India and is treated as the second language after Hindi.
Sekhar defines colonialism as the establishment and expansion of a colony in one’s territory by
individuals from another territory (Sekhar 2278). The colonizers expand their nation’s
sovereignty over other foreign regimes via forceful occupation. Once a nation is colonized, the
colonizers can influence that nation in several ways. They can change the economy as well as the
social structure of that nation. In addition, the even though the colonizers may affect the
government of the colony, they can bring several developments that will later benefit the colony
in several ways. It is of critical significance to note that colonizers always affect the culture and
languages of the colonies in several aspects. Imperialism refers to the system in which a
sovereign nation has command over other countries. Linguistic imperialism was the major
influence that most colonizers had over their colonies. Linguistic imperialism refers to the aspect
of a stronger nation dominates other nations through inception and transfer of their language to
those people. The transfer of the dominant language depicts power dominance. In this transfer,
several cultural exchanges also result.
English has been in the school curriculum of India for several decades. Currently, India
has been producing several English teachers with international recognition as well as adoration

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(Kesavanarayana 33). Other than the education sector, English has also found its roots in trade,
commerce and information technology. In addition, the use of English has taken over Hindu
through its inception in administration and foreign relations. The Introduction of English to India
has created several job opportunities to the people of India. Several people have been employed
as English teachers in several institutions, both in India and abroad (Kesavanarayana 40). This
has contributed towards earning of income, change of living standards as well as growth of the
country’s economy.
English language has also availed several opportunities in medicine, foreign relations and
information technology not only domestically but also in international levels to the Indians
(Kesavanarayana 44). Moreover, several Indians have been employed in some of the world’s
most renowned research institutions because of English. Due to the influence of English in India,
health and sanitation also improved immensely. In addition, economies grew based on the
international trade as well as introduction of new goods by the British.
Modernization theory is a theory that elucidates progress mechanisms and procedure of
modernization (Rice). This theory puts more insight into the internal drives of any nation. It hints
that indigenous countries can reach the same developmental levels attained by more developed
countries through assistance. This puts emphasis on the internal social and economic drives that
such a country may have. These internal factors may include the labor force, soil fertility and
availability of space for agriculture, minerals, education and technological expertise. This is
greatly linked to the rise of India to greater heights in world economy. India has a very large
population that offers the requisite labor needs in many of the Indian industrial sectors. This has
led to increased production of goods and services to the world markets. A good number of this
population is engaged in the agricultural sector that ranks second best worldwide. Again, the

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technological expertise as well as education has made India realize tremendous growth and
development in terms of both infrastructure and economy. Colonization of India contributed
towards adoption of English as a second language in India. This majorly influenced Indian
traditions, thereby contributing to adoption of some English cultures like education. This has
majorly led to economic growth in the country where traditional cultures were overtaken by
modern cultures.
The Role of India in the Global Economy
India plays a greater role in the global economy. It is the eleventh best nation worldwide in
economic terms with regards to its Gross Domestic Product. It has a very stable economy in
global perspective. In addition, it is placed the third best in the world on the basis of Purchasing
Power Parity. He Indian economy has seen tremendous growth since independence. This
follows the strong international relations that the country shares with other nations globally.
Other than good international relations, India also produces several goods to the world markets.
These goods compete favorably with rival goods from other countries, thus ensuring economic
growth. Some of these goods include the agricultural products as well as other related sectors
forestry and fishing. On global perspective, India ranks the second-best nation with regards to
farm output. This has led to massive exportation of agricultural products to the global markets,
thereby strengthening its economy.
Rice states that currently, India is the world’s leading producer of milk, jute and pulses.
In addition, it features in second position worldwide based on the cattle population. Therefore,
this has ensured that India produce huge quantities of agricultural products to the world markets.
India also produces sugarcane, rice and wheat (Rice). Other agricultural products sold to the
global markets include fruits and vegetables, of which India ranks the second largest producer in

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the world. Again, India clinches position two globally in distribution of silk to the world
markets. This has tremendously affected the economy of India, thus resulting to its current strong
economy. Other than agriculture, India also boasts of its mining industry that produces
approximately 79 different minerals (Rice). Some of these minerals include iron ore, bauxite and
manganese. However, during the colonial periods, Indians filled for their colonizers several labor
needs. The British solely depended on the Indian women as ayahs and wet nurses. The wet
nurses provided services for their children whereas the ayahs helped with other house chores.
Other than the women, Indian men also acted as bearers for the British male children.
Change is profound due to the impact or changes that globalization causes to cultures and
cultural materialism. Globalization of the economy has brought both challenges and
opportunities for the world trade. Across the boundaries, there has been an increase in the flow of
labor capital and factors of production (Ohmae 16). The opportunities for production offshore
and outsourcing in the service and the manufacturing sectors have too increased. Cultural
barriers, environmental uncertainty and managerial complexity are among the challenges that
economic globalization has meet.
A study of cultural materialism would help on to understand better the complex cultural
environment that affects business in the global system. Internalization has been described as a
very important strategy which businesses can use to exploit opportunities found in the global
world of trade. Cultural materialism can be described as an anthropological research oriented and
which was first studied by Marvin Harris. Cultural materialism is also described as an ecological
and evolutionary system of theory which tries to give an account to the maintenance, origin, and
change of the social cultural systems. According to Harris cultural a materialism premised on
the fact that the human social life is a response that is made to the practical problems existing in

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the world (Harris 2). Marvin Harris' aimed at laying the foundations of the scientific study of the
society. Harris theory is foundation is that a particular society production mode (for example the
work patterns and technology) and especially regarding food and the mode of reproduction
(meaning growth and population levels) in their interaction and contact with natural environment
has great impact the social cultural change and stability (Elwell 44). Harris asserts that societies
are systems and the widespread social beliefs and practices are supposed to be compatible with
the society’s infrastructures. The infrastructures here mean the modes of reproduction and
production and the interaction with the natural environment. The infrastructures are a
representation of the ways found in a society used for regulation of both the amount and type of
the resource that the society needs to be sustained. Thus, much of Harris work circles around
giving explanations of cultural systems such as norms ideologies beliefs values and also the
various social institutions and practices by using production population and ecological variables
(Harris 91). The infrastructure is used to represent practices and technologies through which
social cultural systems have adapted to their environments. This activity is so important to the
survival of individuals as well as the social cultural systems and thus the adoption of the
technologies as Harris maintains will have massive effects on the cultural beliefs and values and
the human institutions (Harris 44).
Further Harris fully explored the effects of reproductive and productive factors on the
social institutions such as religion, family and work place and also the impact on ideologies the
widespread human ideals and beliefs such as feminism, cow worship and eating taboos (Harris
11). Harris however doesn’t claim that super structural and structural factors are dependent
merely upon the infrastructure of a society. Rather Harris view is that super structural and
structural factor factors interact with production process and the population level.

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The framework developed by Harris is capable of the integration of a wide range of
empirical observations and theoretical insights within its scope. His conception of structure and
superstructure has further been developed so as to incorporate more anthropological and
sociological theory. At the core of his cultural materialism is his instance that the relationships
existing between production and population form the basis of all social cultural systems and that
this base has gigantic effects on the rest of the systems.
It is precisely because of the fact that the different infrastructures that are found in
different environment in the widespread societies that globalization of business has become so
complex and difficult. The infrastructures are the representatives the practices and the
technologies by which the social cultures adopt to their environment. Different societies have
different technologies and practice (Joshi 21).
Implications of Globalization, Multiculturalism on Indian’s Economy
The implications of lack of cross-cultural communication skills range from discrimination to
reduced levels of organizational productivity. Companies involved in international businesses
are most affected. There are thus different ways in which culture influences the international
business. First and foremost is how we express ourselves. This ranges from the various
languages to the good mannerism such as politeness. There could exist a country where the
virtue of being polite is taken in high value thus when someone in the global businesses takes a
different path there may be a problem. The other is the way we express our opinions. For
example, there are some tongues which express opinions as if they are making assertions. There
are things are making assumptions on the environment and context. Lastly, it is the perception of
voice and other personal physical details. Taking the example of the food industry we find that in
most developed countries the food which the people usually take has been through a

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manufacturing process. For example, wheat has been processed to thing like spaghetti and other
product while in some developing countries the wheat may be taken as whole grain or ground
naturally. There is also the example of canned foods where in some countries most people take
the non-canned forms of food. Thus in Such countries the demand for processed may not be
high thus exports are made impossible. Business men may also no agree for example in countries
where women are discriminated.
Politics
Reasons for English Dominance in India
English has been in the school curriculum of India for several decades. Currently, India has been
producing several English teachers with international recognition as well as adoration
(Kesavanarayana 44). Other than the education sector, English has also found its roots in trade,
commerce and information technology. In addition, the use of English has taken over Hindu
through its inception in administration and foreign relations. The Introduction of English to India
has created several job opportunities to the people of India. Several people have been employed
as English teachers in several institutions, both in India and abroad (Kesavanarayana 66). This
has contributed towards earning of income, change of living standards as well as growth of the
country’s economy.
English language has also availed several opportunities in medicine, foreign relations and
information technology not only domestically but also in international levels to the Indians
(Kesavanarayana 44). Moreover, several Indians have been employed in some of the world’s
most renowned research institutions because of English. Due to the influence of English in India,
health and sanitation also improved immensely. In addition, economies grew based on the
international trade as well as introduction of new goods by the British.

9. Surname 9
Modernization theory is a theory that elucidates progress mechanisms and procedure of
modernization (Rice). This theory puts more insight into the internal drives of any nation. It hints
that indigenous countries can reach the same developmental levels attained by more developed
countries through assistance. This puts emphasis on the internal social and economic drives that
such a country may have. These internal factors may include the labor force, soil fertility and
availability of space for agriculture, minerals, education and technological expertise. This is
greatly linked to the rise of India to greater heights in world economy. India has a very large
population that offers the requisite labor needs in many of the Indian industrial sectors. This has
led to increased production of goods and services to the world markets. A good number of this
population is engaged in the agricultural sector that ranks second best worldwide. Again, the
technological expertise as well as education has made India realize tremendous growth and
development in terms of both infrastructure and economy. Colonization of India contributed
towards adoption of English as a second language in India. This majorly influenced Indian
traditions, thereby contributing to adoption of some English cultures like education. This has
majorly led to economic growth in the country where traditional cultures were overtaken by
modern cultures.
The North-South Divide
The North-South Divide refers to a linguistic barrier separating the Northern Indians from the
Sothern Indians. The Northern Hindu speaking Indians regard the southerners as unrefined,
narrow minded, backward and disconnected from the cultural reality of the region. This divide
has been a cause of regional and national prejudice. English and Hindu are both regarded as
India’s official languages. India has 22 constitutionally recognized languages with the region
having a linguistic cacophony comprising of 780 dialects. The North-South divide played out

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recently with Indian Prime Minister’s controversial directive that demanded for the use of Hindi
as the region’s official language. This was seen by the Southerners as an imposition of Hindi on
their lives.
The Kashmir Dispute
One of the longest global disputes between neighboring countries involves India and Pakistan,
the magnitude of which elevates it not only as a South Asia affair but a global political blemish.
The hostility between Pakistan and India eludes the regional and global dispute solving
mechanisms perhaps due to the military dominance that the two countries have against a
backdrop of a closely shared origin. In view of the origin of the Pakistani-India standoff that
precipitates the dispute, several factors come into effect. Nuclear wielding capacity of the two
states further adds insult to the situation, perhaps explaining why peaceful negotiations would
appear to belittle their military stature in the region and on the global platform (Navlakha). This
discussion highlights a few of potential reasons why the dispute originated from and why it
might take a longer time to resolve than projected. Kashmir dispute originated from colonial
politics and religious divisions, which eventually changed shape to military interests making it
difficult to be resolved.
The history of colonial politics in South Asia, as with several parts of the world,
witnessed the takeover of socioeconomic and political affairs of overseas territories by the
British Empire. Among the most outstanding techniques employed in the acquisition by the
British and other European powers included divide and rule, which targeted division of the
communities that traditionally remained unified. In a region with several tribal empires, the
British particularly found the rule of the territory easy and conquest proceeded without many
challenges. According to Irfan, Kashmir was conquered by the British from Sikh empire and sold

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to Singh of Jammu in 1846, and the ensuing tension between the leadership and the subjects
continued to precipitate. The role of the colonial master in the distribution of political might
among the empires therefore acted as the focal point of tension between the people. This is
backed up by the fact that the subjects were largely from Pakistani origin and the ruler was
Indian as explained by the religious background. The Kashmir tension broke out when the
British rule came to an end in 1947 when the nations of India and Pakistan were created and
Kashmir residents given freedom to choose autonomy, but both sides have a claim of the
territory (Sehgal 188). Contribution of the colonial master in unity of the region would therefore
have a different outcome in today’s situation.
In addition to the colonial power influence on the political organization of the Kashmir
region that had Indians and Pakistanis, the issue of Islam and Hinduism created an imbalance
that further fueled the tension. Whereas the Kashmir residents professed Islam faith, the Jammu
leadership of the territory professed the Hindu religion. The Maharaja leadership was insensitive
to the needs of the subjects, which eventually generated resistance over several protests leading
to political opposition in the early 1930s. Despite the fact that the formation of the nations of
India and Pakistan involved declaration of non-intervention to the crises in the autonomous
Kashmir territory, options of the Kashmir region acceding to either India or Pakistan existed.
Dominant Muslim population would reject ideas of acceding to Hindu hands of the Indians while
it equally meant difficulty convincing the Maharaja leadership to accede to Pakistan (Akhtar and
Choudhry 51). The full-blown dispute involved the military intervention by both India and
Pakistan, which led to the controversial accession agreement by the Maharaja to the Indian
authorities in 1947. Bringing the religious differences of the Kashmir people to an end would
facilitate an end to the standoff.

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Consequently, the failure by the two nations to comply with the requirement of non-
intervention in Kashmir’s affairs created the Kashmir Dispute that still looms in the region to
date. Pakistan attempted to occupy Kashmir, having passionately followed the plight of the
population that dominantly comprised of its descendants. The Maharaja sought military
assistance from India to counter the charging Pakistanis, to whom critics attributed the rising
political opposition and insurgency. Among the conditions for military assistance to the
Maharaja was acceding to India, which caused a military confrontation between the two nations
in Kashmir. Intervention from the United Nations bore no fruit as the conditions of the proposed
plebiscite implied the nullification of any direct interest held by the two warring sides on
Kashmir (Irfan). Military power and pride amassed by over the years by the two states would
appear to suffer a setback by complying with any pressure to withdraw from the Kashmir region.
By rising to become among global nuclear players, regional integrity and respect for the two
nations appear to arrive at a cross-road when the topic of territorial pursuit enters into the
deliberations. Perhaps one of the outstanding elements of the dispute is the heavy military
presence in the Kashmir region, which makes it the world’s only place where military-civilian
presence ratios beat global records making complete withdrawal a tremendous beginning.
In conclusion, until the issues of colonial politics, religion and military interests are revisited and
resolved, the standoff between India and Pakistan will remain for another decade and potentially
for longer. World conflict zones could benefit a lot by the lessons obtained from precipitating
factors that touch on foreign influence on local politics, religion and growing stature of nations
as military powerhouses. Even though a majority of India’s speaks Hindu, English has been
adopted as the lingua franca or language of commerce in the region. Imperialism and
colonialism have massively affected the linguistic and cultural diversity in India. British were the

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dominant colonizers of India. Before colonization, India mostly used Hindi as the most familiar
language (Joshi 2). However, after colonization, the British introduced English to India. This
language has increasingly affected the social and cultural aspects in India in several ways. It is
prudent enough to acknowledge the fact that language plays a critical role in any society. It has a
very strong relationship with the society. Therefore, adopting any language is liable to cause
several changes in the society. The introduction of English to India affected the Indian economy,
education, and trade in India (Joshi 23). In addition, the influence of English in the Indian culture
affected the business in India in several perspectives. Through colonialism, English found its
roots in the Indian education sector. This has led to several changes in the culture of education in
India. Indians have been using English in writing many of their literatures. In addition, English is
now an official language in India and is treated as the second language after Hindi.
Sekhar defines colonialism as the establishment and expansion of a colony in one’s territory by
individuals from another territory (Sekhar 2278). The colonizers expand their nation’s
sovereignty over other foreign regimes via forceful occupation. Once a nation is colonized, the
colonizers can influence that nation in several ways. They can change the economy as well as the
social structure of that nation. In addition, the even though the colonizers may affect the
government of the colony, they can bring several developments that will later benefit the colony
in several ways. It is of critical significance to note that colonizers always affect the culture and
languages of the colonies in several aspects. Imperialism refers to the system in which a
sovereign nation haves command over other countries. Linguistic imperialism was the major
influence that most colonizers had over their colonies. Linguistic imperialism refers to the aspect
of a stronger nation dominates other nations through inception and transfer of their language to

14. Surname 14
those people. The transfer of the dominant language depicts power dominance. In this transfer,
several cultural exchanges also result.
English has indeed been in the school curriculum of India for several decades. Currently,
India has been producing several English teachers with international recognition as well as
adoration (Kesavanarayana 44). Other than the education sector, English has also found its roots
in trade, commerce and information technology. In addition, the use of English has taken over
Hindu through its inception in administration and foreign relations. The Introduction of English
to India has created several job opportunities to the people of India. Several people have been
employed as English teachers in several institutions, both in India and abroad (Kesavanarayana
66). This has contributed towards earning of income, change of living standards as well as
growth of the country’s economy.
Conclusion
The role of English language in the evolution and improvement of the social, cultural and
economic economy of India cannot be disputed. English language has also availed several
opportunities in medicine, foreign relations and information technology not only domestically
but also in international levels to the Indians. Moreover, several Indians have been employed in
some of the world’s most renowned research institutions because of English. Due to the
influence of English in India, health and sanitation also improved immensely. English language
has therefore created a better, more globalized India despite the confrontation it created with the
materialization of the North-South linguistic and cultural divide. The role of English within the
Indian economy and culture can be seen as an enabler of better interaction between people from
a multicultural pool. The multicultural dynamics and globalization can be seen as important
factors to the existence of the Indian cultural identity and economic might. Therefore, a part from

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the North-South linguistic dichotomy, the impact of English language to the development of the
Indian economy has largely been positive.

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Harris, Marvin. Cannibals and Kings: The Origin of Cultures. New York. Vintage Books, 1991.
Irfan. S. Kashmiri., “Kashmir Dispute in Its Historical Background,” 29 May, 2011.
http://www.frontlinekashmir.org/2011/05/kashmir-dispute-in-its-historical.html
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Sekhar, Raja. “Colonialism and Imperialism and its Impacts on English Language.” Asian
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