Definitely not nearly as vile. It certainly wasn't perfect, particularly things like the awful penal colonies, but jump-starting a giant civilisation, say, 1000+ years into the future is not straightforward either. India is experiencing a rise in nationalism, but would do well to imagine the counterfactual of what India would be like had Europe never visited.

> jump-starting a giant civilisation, say, 1000+ years into the future is not straightforward either

The various East India companies went to India (and the other east Indies) because those places had things rich Europeans desired - spices yes, but also high-end, high-quality textiles and handcrafted items. They were the height of civilization and had high economic productivity.

> would do well to imagine the counterfactual of what India would be like had Europe never visited

It would probably not be one country. Best case scenario: like a South Asian EU. Why do you think they wouldn't have copied European industrialization and developed themselves? Japan did it.

> jump-starting a giant civilisation, say, 1000+ years into the future is not straightforward either.

Not sure what you are suggesting here.