Some politicians and pundits have declared India a “natural ally,” an emergent “great power” fated to be at the vanguard of the twenty-first century. But as India rises, it faces daunting obstacles: Can the country’s antiquated infrastructure power economic development? Will the national bureaucracy shed its legendary inefficiencies and mitigate corruption? Will the Indian armed forces procure the weaponry and talent necessary to field a fully modern force? C. Uday Bhaskar, formerly the deputy director of the Institute for Defence and Security Studies in New Delhi; Stephen P. Cohen, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution; and M.R. Sivaraman, former revenue secretary of India will discuss these and other issues surrounding the costs and consequences of India’s rise as a great power. AEI research fellow Christopher Griffin will moderate.