Whose fault is it that we are poor?

Whose fault is it that we are poor? It's ours, of course. We are 100% responsible for our impoverished state - and for our debts to the outside world. Our impoverished state is a result of our unsound economic policies and our lack of skilful debt management.

But, aren't our economic policies also endorsed by the international financial community? Don't the international financial institutions and leading economists around the world help shape the financial policies of debtor countries like ours every year? Isn't this debt management just another facet of globalisation?

Perhaps, the fact that we are poor isn't really a country-specific issue. Rather, it's a global issue. What happens to us affects the whole world. I mean, if India's poverty is erased, the whole world becomes a better place to live in, right? In other words, should we perform badly in economic and financial terms, the whole world risks to lose. And, that's quite a responsibility.

The prosperity of other countries around the world is inextricably linked to our own prosperity. And, vice versa. Isn't it time we looked at eliminating poverty more holistically?