In between games of croquet, members of Britain's imperial governing class spent much of their time worrying about what would happen if they lost India. With the resources of such a giant country at her disposal, Britannia bestrode the world. Without them, she would be nothing more than a medium-sized European power with a healthy economy, a widely spoken language and a talent for inventing sports with arcane rules. A version of that old imperial anxiety is playing itself out again, albeit with the balance of power upended by globalisation. With this in mind Gordon Brown, the chancellor, made his first visit to India this week.
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