Quotes of the Day

Last week, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh joined more than 150 foreign leaders in New York City to kick off this year's session of the United Nations' General Assembly and celebrate the institution's 60th birthday. Singh had a weighty agenda: he talked Kashmir with Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf, discussed India's nuclear-energy needs with George W. Bush, and lobbied for a permanent seat on an expanded Security Council. (Japan, Germany and Brazil each want one too.) The U.N.'s "structure and decision-making process," he said in an address to the General Assembly, "reflect the world of 1945, not of 2005."

By week's end, no progress was made in expanding the Security Council but, according to a TIME/CNN poll conducted in four major Indian metropolises by market-research company TNS, Indians agree that their nation will deserve more respect in the future. Three quarters of the respondents asserted that India would develop into a superpower within the next quarter-century. More than 40% of those polled said they thought Bombay—already home to the world's most prolific film industry—would one day eclipse Hollywood as the global entertainment capital. The poll also suggests that Singh should concentrate on the domestic agenda. Nearly two-thirds of the respondents agreed that the country's weak infrastructure will seriously challenge its progress. Meanwhile, nearly 60% contended that the government isn't adequately addressing the rich-poor divide, a pressing issue for Singh, whose Congress Party swept into office last year on a wave of votes from the frustrated poor. Still, India has changed radically in the past 60 years—and by the time the U.N. celebrates its 120th anniversary, New Delhi and Beijing may be calling the shots.

• Chaim Estulin
• TIME/CNN Poll on India's world view