The Ministry of External Affairs has not caught up with India’s new dynamism, nor leveraged its expanding international business presence or our influence as a vibrant democracy in the region. It is overworked, calcified, parochial and desperate for outside voices that can both refine its thinking and make the unpopular statements that it cannot. In the last year alone, we have faced major foreign policy issues - and acquitted ourselves honourably of none. Burma, Tibet, Pakistan, Afghanistan, China, the US-India nuclear deal- - Indian business is ubiquitous in these places, yet its voice was never heard in public.

It’s time for Indian business to lead India’s new place in the world. The most creative thinking in India today is coming from the private sector. Government is unlikely to rise to the task and unable to reinvent itself the way business has. Every crisis is an opportunity. The excuse for lack of reform these past years has been that India only transforms when there is a crisis. Well, India is now in a crisis. Will India’s businessmen seize the opportunity to help the country get out of it?

The writer is bureau chief, India, for BusinessWeek magazine. Views expressed are personal