Amitav Acharya

There are many more universities with centers for China studies, Americans going to study in China, getting trained in the language.

This goes back to the Cold War period.

There's nothing like that.

As a professor, I can tell you that India studies is nothing comparable.

So American students and American academic institutions

And to some extent, think tanks, too.

They're catching up now, but nothing like China.

As you know, United States is not a country where there's a lot of interest in foreign cultures, right?

I can tell you that I have a son who just graduated from school, and they studied about China, about Europe, Rome, Greece, not much in India.

So...

That's part of the problem.

Americans don't go to India as large numbers of tourists.

So because of that, we have this relative ignorance about India, neglect of India.

We talk about democracy, but you know, US and India, largest democracy in the world, that's like rhetoric.

I mean, it doesn't really translate into endearment of India in the American public imagination.

Now, you did mention about the Indian diaspora, which is quite influential politically, although smaller than China, but more successful economically.

Yeah.

I think it's a real problem.

And it's partly, well, I'm not going to fault anybody, but partly the way the Indian diaspora, especially the tech elite in the U.S., conducts itself.

I have heard this story about Indian dominance of Silicon Valley as a factor why many non-Indians, especially from Southeast Asia, have left Silicon Valley.