'India vs China is a very tired debate'

In the first part of an exclusive interview with rediff.com, Dr Desai highlighted what has changed in India-US relations, the vital role played by Indian Americans in increasing awareness about India and the role of the Asia Society in educating Americans about India.

In the concluding segment of the interview Dr Desai tells Assistant Managing Editor Archana Masih about the Asia Society's conference on India's new priorities in Mumbai this weekend, discusses the India versus China debate and the Society's role in providing a more nuanced, subtle, three-dimensional understanding of India.

Part I of the interview: 'India is an important player in its own right'

There is this constant India-China debate about whether India can overtake China and when. What are your observations?

India versus China is a very tired debate.

Everybody knows what are the competitive advantages of both and one might add that they are mirror opposites. Exactly the strengths of India are the weaknesses of China, and the strengths of China are the weaknesses of India.

Can you explain by way of example?

In terms of infrastructure. China is so heads and shoulders above India that is it laughable to even compare it. On the other hand, the deepness of the layers of corporate governance, the business leaders that we have in India, China cannot hold a candle (to it). In the sense that China has grown so fast that they don't have the maturity of the private enterprise that we do and that's big plus for India.

There is a maturity of business acumen, maturity of management practices etc, that is what China doesn't have. Then the knowledge of English is in favour of India, not so for China.

One has to say that everything is moving very fast. I think the interesting question is how China and India might come together, given that their strengths are diametrically different. That there may be a way they could complement each other and what that may look like.

How do you reckon the Asia Society conference this weekend will boost India as an attractive business market?

The conference is a regional discussion on India's role in the region from a business point of view. We have invited American CEOs, Indian corporates, multinational representatives and many Asian companies to come and speak about the change in the Indian economy, how robust it has become and that it is not going to go away.

The sessions will focus on India's role in the region and on domestic, financial sectors, energy, infrastructure. A couple of breakout sessions will focus on education, HIV- AIDS, global health and the last session will be a forward looking session -- where we see India in 2020.

Dr Manmohan Singh (India's prime minister) will give the opening address. Montek Singh Ahluwalia (deputy chairman, India's Planning Commission) will give the opening keynote on day two. Asia Society Chairman Richard Holbrooke and a senior executive from Dow Jones will be here.

The important thing to recognise here is that we realise that there are lots of conferences now in India unlike five years ago. But what we bring to the table is different because we have this broader Asian connection so we are bringing CEO delegations from China, Singapore, Malaysia, Australia and a delegation of educators from the US.

We are going to have a session on education reform and this delegation is going to have meetings in Delhi and Mumbai with their counterparts here. The education sector is something that the society is much involved in with China and we are looking to do the same thing here in India to set up a very strong educational exchange.

There are many India conferences that take place. The fourth Pravasi Bharatiya Conference took place in January but in all this buzz about India being a huge market and next superpower etc, the social indicators like poverty, health do not get that much attention.

Two messages that people need to understand about us that we are quite different from most of the people who are coming in. We are not a latecomer to India, we have been doing India-related programming in the United States for than 50 years.

Secondly, because we are a multi-disciplinary organisation we are really committed to public understanding and public education. We don't have a specific agenda that I am going to here to establish business. We are not even here to help businesses figure out how to enter the Indian market because they know how to do that.

What we are here to do for businesses or political leaders is to provide a more nuanced, subtle, three-dimensional understanding of India because of the fact that we combine culture, commerce and foreign affairs and there's no other institution that does that.

We believe that is among the most important things to learn about this part of the world. We are pan Asia and we have connections where we see India in relation to other Asian countries.

This is the Asia Society's 50th year and while you already have offices in Hong Kong, Manila, Shanghai, is there anything special about the timing in opening an office in Mumbai now?

In the last 50 years, we have been very proud of our legacy but much of our work has really been in America to educate Americans about Asia.

The other mission of the Society has been creating deeper partnerships between Asians and Asians in America so that it is not a one-way traffic.

We as an institution must position ourselves much more as a global, transnational institution that happens to have headquarters in New York but is really committed to creating pods of connections that then connect to others as well.

In our 50th anniversary we are repositioning the institution to face the challenges, realities and take opportunities of the 21st century that is about multipolar relationships.

It also means that America -- perhaps as we go forward a lot of people have said that -- it will no longer be possible for America to see itself as the sole superpower. We want to think about America in this notion of the Asian century and it is very important that we do work in the region and as well as in America.

A lot of people have said that but the evolution of the institution was such that initially we only had a place in New York. Then we opened an office in Washington because initially in the first life of the institution the primary goal was to educate Americans about Asia.

As we begin to expand that mission which is about partnerships, deepening connections between Asians and Americans it was important to have a presence here. It's gradually that idea that is becoming paramount. Because of that it makes sense to open a center here.

The other thing is that each of these centres is locally driven, locally funded, so the maturity of finances was there. We have been doing lots of programmes in India and about India but it has been more ad hoc. This allows us to solidify our work here.

Photograph: Jack Deutsch