International optimism sparked by the election of Prime Minister Narendra Modi should be tempered by the fact that reforms he has promised face “challenges [that] have deep-rooted origins with no easy solutions“.  With many of India’s institutional traditions deriving from its colonial past many are short-term focused and disconcerting for Indians to modify due to the increase of uncertainty that accompanies the process.  The author, Sudarshan Murthy of Matthews Asia, provides a diagram summarizing his view of the reform terrain: