An economic adviser to the Indian government between 1998 and 2001, Nand Kishore Singh, and businessman John L Chan who is the author of China Streetsmart, a guide to doing business with China, said that both countries would rise to the huge developmental challenges facing them.

"India is a picture of contradictions belying generalities of any kind," said Singh, who said that the multi-billion-dollar question was "can it contribute to global peace and security" or would it be "a drag on human society and a detractor from growth?

"

Singh, noting the penchant of skilled Indian youth for information technology, fondly recalled a visit he once made to US software group Microsoft where he noticed the teeming presence of compatriot software personnel.

"Bill Gates said: 'So are you in the US or in Bangalore?' Almost every floor had piles of Indians."

Singh said that India, with growth averaging upwards of six percent in the past four years and given a medium-term prognosis of seven to eight percent, could rightly assert that "all economic engines are firing", with manufacturing growth topping eight pecent and services 11.0 percent.

A strong technological sector, coupled with deregulation, was bolstering the process in a country where a mushrooming middle class was snapping up gadgets such as mobile phones at a rate of 1.5 million units per month.

This was "the power of connectivity -- integrating the Indian economy into the mainstream," said Singh, who nonetheless warned that industry had to undergo a "cultural change" to wean itself off traditional reliance on state subsidies.

Since India's exploding population set to see the country surpass China's by 2050, Singh said that the demographic data were on Delhi's side.