In the 1960s-1970s, India and China had roughly the same per capita GDP. They started their reforms in the 1980s, and by 1990, they had overtaken our per capita GDP. Say what you will about the differences in our worldviews and economic models, but their scientific and technological progress is undeniable across disciplines—DeepSeek is just the latest example.

I saw this chart in an Economist article. It gives you a quick and dirty idea of the progress China has made despite the fact that papers and citations can be gamed. India wouldn’t even show up on the chart.

I think the problem that has always plagued India is short-termism. Problems are typically addressed through a patchwork or the Jugaad mentality. This is true when it comes to business, politics, regulatory approaches, etc. Many problems that require focused long-term thinking instead get band-aid fixes. This is not to say that we haven’t made progress. In my own lifetime, we have come a long way, but not nearly enough.

For example, you can’t just buy GPUs and expect Indians to create groundbreaking AI applications. Without the right talent and an enabling ecosystem that facilitates innovation, all the GPUs in the world will be pointless.

We need to seriously start building our research capabilities. While India does produce great researchers, we don’t seem to offer a conducive environment for them, which is why the majority of them go to the US. Again, this is not something that will show results instantly. In the case of China, it was 2 decades at the bare minimum focusing just on research. If we start focusing on building our research and scientific capabilities, we will hopefully see results in 5 to 10 years.

This is all the more important in the world that AI will shape where being mediocre won’t be an option.

As K put it in his recent post, check the image.

And about Deepseek, thank god that it is open source.

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