US President Donald Trump, the leader of the world’s most powerful democracy, is worried about Beijing’s growing supremacy in the key technologies, especially Artificial Intelligence or AI.
India, on the other hand, just ignores the growing threats from her northern borders. She finds more at home with her so-called glorious past, perhaps, living in a make believe world.
The New Chinese platform, DeepSeek, shakes the American stock exchanges, forcing Trump to reassure the free world that the US would pick up the gauntlet by investing more in the technologies. Only 10 days before Trump’s crucial press conference at White House, Elon Musk had taken Indian techs to his Texas establishment, a rare recognition of the Indian talent, but in India the budgetary cuts for scientific research have already hit hard. It is estimated that even IITs are facing paucity of funds for research.
Meanwhile, with the exit of the rudderless Biden Administration, the new American establishment has decided to curtail wasteful expenditures for adopting a new policy by committing much larger financial allocations in the key fields focussing on the development of robotics, artificial intelligence and in the related areas.
It was natural for Trump not to concede the supremacy of China in these key areas at the recently held press conference. He, perhaps, camouflaged the American agenda by pretending that his administration is going to use AI for an early detection of cancer and accordingly the treatment would be conducted by developing the patient-specific vaccine within 48 hours. It means that the AI could be used for offering much cheaper treatment to patients instead of using broad spectrum medicines.
It is interesting to note that the Indian media has chosen to ignore these recent claims of Beijing and its worldwide reactions and ramifications. Instead, Indian media is seen weaving a narrative without any substance, trumpeting and stressing upon that the US under Trump would be ignoring Pakistan and thus India would be finding solace under the American patronage.
The Apprehension : The knowledgeable sources in India have confided that the AI supported medical treatment would be needing a big database, perhaps, comprising the total population of a given area.
If this data could be accessed by the enemy country or a terrorist group, it could be used to develop a specific virus for destroying the entire population of the targeted area before any preventive measures could be taken.
In other words, if a few corporations decide to unleash a new strain of any virus, they may easily repeat a Covid-19 epidemic on a much larger scale focusing on a specific population. It may be recalled that the Spanish invaders in Latin America had used quilts, having been infected with the smallpox virus, which had decimated more than 10 million natives. A recent Harvard University study regarding the use of smallpox against the natives of the northern states, especially in New York and New Jersey, has been hushed up.
A Robot that Thinks : The artificial intelligence platforms like Google Gemini, Chitchat or the open AI-GPT have already penetrated among school children in the private Indian schools. The school children can write an essay without any effort with the help of the AI. It means children need not to learn any specific skill. It is expected that the AI might soon infect other schools in coming months. The parents aware of this menace are already finding it difficult to dissuade their children from using the AI.
It must be understood that with an unprecedented computing power, a thinking robot might even trigger a nuclear holocaust. For example, if the robot comes to a conclusion on the basis of its analysis that a missile with nuclear weapons is going to hit soon , it may reciprocate with nuclear weapons, thus without any caution or human intervention, the human race will be wiped out from the earth.
Opportunity Missed: Professor Ramamurthy of the National Institute of Advanced Studies, Bangalore , once bemoaned that the successive governments in India only indulge in rhetoric and seldom support higher studies in science and technology. In recent years, the situation has worsened in the country with the strong presence of criminals in Parliament. In the 2024, polls as many as 251 newly elected in members of the Lok Sabha are facing serious charges like murders and rape. Of the 250 members of the House , the ruling BJP has a share of 39 percent with its lawmakers having a criminal background. On the other hand, most of the Chinese lawmakers, members of the Chinese Communist Party have studied science and technology. Even the president Xi Jinping has studied engineering.
With this background, it is not surprising that India, which had an edge in the field of science and technology against China 10 years ago, has now been relegated to become almost a nondescript country in the field of technologies and may soon be competing with Pakistan and Bangladesh or some African country.
For this, only the political leaders should be blamed. It may be noted that the leaders of the present day ruling BJP were led by L.K. Advani before Narendra Modi arrived on the national scene, who had opposed the introduction of computers and cell phones in India. In his speech before the Rajya Sabha, he had stated that the government under Rajiv Gandhi was committing a blunder by introducing the high technologies in India. He further ridiculed Rajiv Gandhi that his government believed that poor farmers and domestic help would soon be using the cell phones. Later, Advani, who is remembered for calling the founder of Pakistan, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, a secular, was later elevated to the coveted position of the Deputy Prime Minister in Atal Bihari Vajpayee government. Recently despite his regarded views, the Narendra Modi government has anointed him with Bharat Ratna, the highest civilian award.
In this context, it is not surprising that India, which had an edge against China in the key fields of computer science, rocketry and in exploration of space, especially in the development of software, during the last decade of the 20th. century has suddenly lost her presence in these high-tech areas, especially under the BJP rule.
Apart from the backward looking senior leaders, this
setback could also be attributed to the excessive indulgence in rhetoric or self-praise by the ruling elite instead of harnessing the country’s resources for genuine work. It will be a challenging task for any government in future to prevent the country’s continuous decline in the key areas of academics.
Trump’s Initiative : Within a fortnight of being sworn-in, Trump held a joint press-conference at White House with the Oracle CEO, Larry Ellison, and the CEO of SoftBank, Masayoshu Son.
Interestingly, neither Trump nor his associates at the press conference confessed that their decision to invest billions of US dollars in AI have been prompted by the recent success of the Chinese artificial intelligence platform, DeepSeek. The Chinese have also claimed that they have developed it within two months by investing just six million US dollars.
Neither Trump nor Ellison cared to explain that the impact of DeepSeek has already hit the American Stock Exchange market NASDAQ and American companies have lost huge money, perhaps, in billions of the US dollars.
India, No More in Race : In recent years, India has changed her priority from becoming a scientifically advanced country to a land of sadhus in quest of God. With this shift in her policy, it is natural for India to lose her initial edge in the fields such as technology and science. They consider it irrelevant to devote energy in the fields of science and technology, they now prefer being a follower of the Sanatan or the ancient religion and rituals.
Meanwhile, Indian techs have the option either to bask in the glory of the past or seek jobs in the Chinese universities or try to seek employment under Musk.
Gopal Misra has been associated with national and international media. His books on journalism and geo-politics have been well-appreciated. Views are personal.
