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Manmohan Singh was extraordinary but don't know what happened..: Narayana Murthy
IT czar and Infosys co-founder Narayana Murthy exuded confidence in the potential of the young generation to make India a worthy competitor of China.
Infosys co-founder Narayana Murthy on Friday lamented the delays in decision-making during the final years of the Congress-led UPA government at the Centre, saying the economic activities in India were stalled despite Manmohan Singh, whom he called an extraordinary man, helming the affairs, reported ANI.
Speaking at a session on the book "Startup Compass" with its authors at the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad (IIM-A), recalled India's name often being taken alongside China during the boardroom meetings of HSBC. However, by the time he left the board of HSBC, Murthy said, India's name seldom came up.
"I used to be on the board of HSBC in London (between 2008 and 2012). In the first few years, when China was mentioned two to three times in the boardroom (during meetings), India's name would be mentioned once," Murthy said.
"But unfortunately, I don't know what happened afterwards. During Manmohan Singh's government, who is an extraordinary individual, for whom I have tremendous respect, somehow India stalled. Decisions were not taken quickly, everything was delayed. And by the time I left (HSBC), if China's name was mentioned 30 times, India's name was hardly found to be mentioned once," Murthy said as he credited former PM Manmohan Singh for 1991 economic reforms.
The IT czar exuded confidence in the potential of the young generation to make India a worthy competitor of China.
When asked where he sees India in the future, he said, "It is the responsibility of the young generation to make people mention India's name, whenever they mention any other country's name, particularly China and exuded confidence that the young generation will be able to do that."
He added, "During the period of 1978 to 2022, i.e 44 years, China has left India behind by six times. But I do think that if all the wonderful people sitting here this side to make things happen, India too will see similar respect as China today gets it."
(With ANI inputs)
