Rishika Pardikar

Good input. And while Vietnam may well have gotten the '+1' status, there are reasons for this difference in behaviour. Most international commentators, compare India with China, without accounting for the huge difference in the nature of their polities. While these Indian friends may have been argumentative, that's because the complexities that India has are well in excess of anything that China, or Vietnam face. India's path was very different. Democracy has given India freedom that Chinese and Vietnamese citizens cannot imagine, but also chaos. This is lost on most, who associate democratic freedoms with the 'liberal West'. A lot of what China has done, may apply to Vietnam, both being autocratic states. But will have zero applicability to India. At best, certainly not a direct applicability. So while these Indian friends may have missed some lessons. But it is entirely likely, that the commentator also missed some that go beyond commerce and economics. Nevertheless, very interesting inputs.