What are your thoughts on the strengths and weaknesses of India vis a vis China?
My impressions of India are that you have a population full of vitality, a young population. What strikes me as a European is the degree to which youth dominate this country. It is utterly different from the feeling you get in Germany or France or the UK which are mature societies but we have a huge problem which is a demographic problem. You have your own demographic problem which is different from ours but it gives your culture and economy a sense of vitality which is very attractive. The other wonderful thing about India is the degree to which democracy works in a country which is so big and so diverse. It is complicated, you have corruption and ridiculous bureaucracy but in the end people do believe that voting counts for something. I have been in slums all over the world. In most slums in developing countries, people feel completely disenfranchised, maybe they have a vote but it is a very theoretical vote, they don’t think it counts. In India, there is a sense that even slum dwell
