India needs geo-political stability for growth: Baru

India needs geo-political stability to achieve growth and should invest in education and building human capability to take advantage of the opportunities offered by a multi-polar world, senior journalist Sanjaya Baru said here today.

He was delivering the fifth N J Yasaswy Memorial Lecture on 'The West and the Rest: The Geo-economics of a Multi-polar World' at the Institute of Chartered Financial Analysts of India (ICFAI) here.

The journalist said the global balance of power was moving towards multi-polarity, in which a shift in the distribution of power is being witnessed and it is no longer concentrated in the hands of one or two countries.

"In such an environment, India needs geo-political stability to achieve growth. The country needs to invest in education and in building human capability to take advantage of the opportunities offered by a multi-polar world," Baru, who was media adviser to former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, said.

With Europe losing its competitiveness, Asian countries including China and India would soon catch up with the developed world provided these countries invest in building human capability and well-being, he said.

C Rangarajan, former RBI Governor and chancellor of the university, presided over the function. Addressing the audience, he said the emerging technology should assist the humans and not try to replace the skilled labour.

Rangarajan added that the per capita income of India has to increase in coming years in order to fast-track the growth of economy.