60th birthday - Poverty only thing holding India back

INDIA is celebrating 60 years of independence and though comparisons of scale between Ireland and India are meaningless, there are many parallels in our histories, some illuminating, some unfortunate.

We were both once ruled by the same colonial power, we both struggled for independence and, when we achieved it, struggled to establish successful economies.

Both countries were riven by bitter conflict in the years immediately after realising independence, religious differences too often being the catalyst for carnage.