Can science bring China and India closer?

So asks Pallavi Aiyar in the Hindu newspaper. Despite the potential and mutual benefit to both countries, the question that begs and answer is what role will the behemoth bureucracies in both China and India play in this policy.

While the babucracy in India still carries the Raj mentality, the comradocracy in China has no qualms about "begging, borrowing or stealing" at all costs the commercifiable S&T.

China has an advantage here - its tertiary education related R&D system is better than India, even though India has one advantage - English. That would count little in the final analysis. Japan did not become an english-speaking country in its rapid progress phase. Agreed the strengths of Japan were in electronics and automobiles but they did not require much english.

Software does require english and India would have to face enormous hurdles just because its competitive advantage in computing and business processes requires (1) to be able to satisfy the ever more demanding westerners, and (2) always to be at the cutting edge of popular IT trends and standards, something Indian companies are not really good at. When was the last time an indian-startup made waves? when was the last time indian technologists lead in creating standards in IT? Indian technologists still look to the west for inspiration in IT matters.

Coming back to the question - what do china and India and have to offer each other that is not what their bureaucracies think as a potential national and economic security matter?

"For meaningful cooperation aimed at the realisation of both countries' scientific aspirations, a change in mindset will be necessary. "

A much more is neccessary - a level playing field, sophisticated policy apparatuses and a geopolitical alignment.