It will take India and China more than 100 years to catch up to America in Science and Technology
Sudhir Chadda
Oct. 14, 2005

While there are signs that India and China are progressing very well in science and technology, recent report on the fact that India and China will soon dwarf America in science and technology is far fetched and imaginary.

India and China faces major problems in terms of illiteracy, infrastructure availability and general poverty. India and China have pegged their economies with America’s and depends on American imports of goods and services.

India’s unemployment among young educated middleclass will skyrocket if America closes door. Effect on China will be much more severe.

US’ leading science advisory group, the National Academics, has warned the country against erosion of its competitive edge in science. According to a report in The New York Times, a 20-member advisory panel called for a “decisive action”, without which US “could lose its privileged position”.

Citing India and China as the emerging scientific and industrial powers of the world, the panel's chairman, Norman R. Augustine said, "The building blocks of our economic leadership are wearing away. The challenges that America faces are immense".

However, at the same time, noted film director Shekhar Kapoor on Friday asked the industry to cut down on too much hype about India’s investment climate, saying the country first needs to set its house in order before it can welcome businesses from abroad.

The nation cannot progress or be a major market, when millions of people are still illiterate and are without basic infrastructure needs, he said speaking at a panel discussion organized by BBC World on issues about India’s emergence as a global entity and its role on the world stage. “We say the youth (in India) is going to be the major consumer. Are they going to be illiterate, uneducated youth? Are we going to create a new system (to ensure education to youth)?,” Kapoor asked. “One should not forget that 60 per cent India still lives in rural areas and there are millions who still cannot afford a chocolate,” he said. The filmmaker, however, appreciated strides made by India in the field of information technology and said the country India must learn to create its own intellectual property. “We must create our own Microsoft than service it,” Kapoor said. Earlier, Ashok Soota of Mindtree in his comments about India’s potential as future big player in global market said that he looked at India as the proverbial ‘half glass full, half glass empty’.

“India is a land of paradoxes, the best part is that we have the largest number of youth, while on the other hand we are still to make considerable progress in the field of infrastructure,” he said.

The country has made significant progress in the past few years, and today the world sees it as one of the biggest markets along with China, Soota said.

The panel discussion was first of the series of two, which BBC World is holding to launch India Week, a series focused on India.

It will take India and China more than 100 years to catch up to America in Science and Technology
Sudhir Chadda
The nation cannot progress or be a major market, when millions of people are still illiterate and are without basic infrastructure needs: Shekhar Kapoor...
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