Member Countries - India

• India Key indicators

The roots of Indian civilization stretch back in time to pre-recorded history. The earliest human activity in the Indian subcontinent can be traced back to the Early, Middle and Late Stone Ages. India gained independence from the British on 15 August 1947. The freedom struggle was led by Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, also known as The Mahatma, who is revered as the Father of the Nation.

India has one of the world’s most diverse populations, with most of the major races represented. Today, India has over one billion people. There are fifteen languages recognized by the Indian Constitution and these are spoken in 1600 dialects. Hindi, the fourth most widely spoken language in the world, is the language of 30% of the population and the official language of India.

The Constitution of India, which envisages a parliamentary form of government, is federal in structure with unitary features. The President of India is the Constitutional Head of the Executive of the Union. The Constitution provides that there shall be a Council of Ministers with the Prime Minister as head, to aid and advise the President, who shall in exercise of his functions, act in accordance with such advice. Real executive power, thus, vests in the Council of Ministers with the Prime Minister as head. The Legislature of the Union is called the Parliament, and consists of the President and two Houses, known as the Council of States (Rajya Sabha) and the House of the People (Lok Sabha).

India ranks among the top ten industrial nations of the world and has an increasingly powerful middle class. The Indian economy is potentially very strong with its large industrial output, technological knowledge and extensive reservoir of skilled manpower. Major exports include cotton goods, iron, raw jute and jute products, coffee, electrical goods, leather, handicrafts, diamonds, chemicals and software. The major imports are machinery, petroleum, chemicals, cereals, copper, and zinc.

The majority of Indians (64%) earn their livelihood from the land with agriculture accounting for about 35 % of national income.