The Economic Divergence – Tracking the Growth Trajectories of the Two Asian Neighbours India and Pakistan on a Global Stage

The aim of this paper to analyse the growth trajectories of India and Pakistan, the two South Asian twins with an identical colonial past. By delving deeper into the policies pursued by two economies that were born in very similar conditions, this paper explores the impacts of policy implementation and governance on the growth paths. In an increasingly uncertain global setup, it becomes important to understand what constitutes good and bad policy through economic growth stories. This paper uses policy evaluation papers, data, and maps important timelines along with sectors in order to place precisely why the economic paths of the two countries diverged so drastically. Moreover, reforms and current policies being pursued are used to analyse loop holes and the need for future policy reforms. Policy failures described in this paper give a clear overview of the impacts of political instability and external factors on economic growth. The study is not just a guide to what worked and what didn’t, rather it explores the very core of how countries chart their paths at both the micro and macro-economic level towards economic development.