Learning From Other Countries

India has long taken in ideas, people, cultures and technologies from elsewhere, reshaping each to fit its own character and conditions. Yet over the course of its long history, the authors suggest, the country has lost some of its faith in itself, and it has not yet found the nerve to chart a fully independent course.

This book argues that looking outward can help. Studying what other nations have done, and are still doing, offers a useful reference point, provided that the conclusions about what suits India are drawn by Indians themselves. The authors examine how the United States, Malaysia, Japan, South Korea and several European countries produced vision documents for their own futures, and what those efforts reveal about setting national goals.

A.P.J. Abdul Kalam and Y.S. Rajan write with a clear purpose: to show that drawing inspiration from developed countries can help India walk its own path to development. It is a short, practical look at national planning for readers interested in India's future and in how nations decide where they want to go.