India must shed its intellectual inferiority complex, trusting its own ingenuity over foreign validation and leading on its own terms.
In an increasingly complex and competitive world, nations must rely not just on their size or history but on their intellectual prowess, technological capabilities, and moral clarity to lead with purpose. For India, a country of over 1.4 billion people with a deep civilizational ethos and a vibrant democracy, the time has come to embrace a bold and unapologetic vision: India First. This is not a slogan of exclusion or aggression, but one of renewal, rooted in national interest, driven by indigenous capabilities and executed through science and technology.
India has long recognized the transformative power of science. From the establishment of the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) and the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) to the Green and White Revolutions, we have seen firsthand how scientific innovation can lift millions from poverty, empower communities and strengthen national security. Yet, while the historical narrative celebrates our past achievements, the present demands that we renew this commitment with urgency and clarity.
In the modern knowledge economy, scientific progress is more than a matter of prestige: it is a necessity. By 2023, India had become the world’s third-largest producer of scientific publications, trailing only China and the United States. As per the Scopus database, the country published over 250,000 peer-reviewed papers in 2022, with notable strides in artificial intelligence, materials science, and biotechnology. Patent filings, too, have surged, with over 80,000 applications recorded in 2023 - nearly twice the number from a decade earlier.
Yet metrics alone do not make a nation great. The deeper question is: To what end are we advancing science? Are we solving India’s real problems—those of water scarcity, food insecurity, public health, energy, urban congestion, and environmental degradation—or are we merely participating in global academic exercises detached from national needs?
An India First approach to science means reversing this imbalance. It means aligning research priorities with the challenges faced by Indian farmers, workers, teachers, and children. It means asking not only what is publishable, but what is useful, scalable and impactful. It means ensuring that our scientific institutions are not just centers of learning but engines of development. While global collaboration remains essential, it must never come at the cost of intellectual independence or strategic autonomy.
India must see itself not just as a domestic problem-solver but as a global contributor. Its low-cost vaccines during the pandemic and budget-friendly space missions have demonstrated how frugality and innovation can reshape leadership. As the world contends with food insecurity, climate change, and health inequities, India’s scalable, affordable solutions born of necessity, offer a model for adaptation. This presents a strategic opportunity to emerge as a scientific force from the Global South that is both self-sufficient and globally engaged. India, with 18 percent of the world’s population but only 4 percent of its freshwater, faces acute water stress. Yet homegrown solutions remain underfunded and stuck in red tape. Deploying them swiftly is not a matter of global prestige but of national survival. These technologies could also aid other water-scarce regions.
Energy security presents a similar challenge. While the world debates net-zero targets, India must forge its own path, balancing renewables, clean coal, nuclear power, and green hydrogen. Domestic investment in battery storage and grid management is crucial to ensuring reliable, affordable power. The success of Chandrayaan-3 in 2023 underscored India’s ability to achieve breakthroughs with vision, frugality, and indigenous talent. This spirit of self-reliance must extend beyond space exploration to every sector, from energy to technology.
Equally important is the need to reform our research ecosystem. India invests around 0.7 percent of its GDP in R&D, compared to over 2 percent in China and nearly 3.5 percent in Israel and South Korea. This must rise significantly, but not blindly. The private sector must play a larger role, not just in start-ups but in core scientific research. Academia must shed its insulation and work hand-in-hand with industry, civil society and government. Scientists must be encouraged to dream big but also to solve problems on the ground.
What does this vision require at its core? It requires belief that Indian minds are not second to any, that our solutions need not be imported, and that we can lead, not follow. It requires dismantling the legacy of intellectual dependency, where validation from foreign journals or institutions carries more weight than impact on Indian lives. It requires courage to speak the truth that decolonizing the Indian scientific enterprise is not a cultural whim, but a national necessity.
India First in science does not mean turning inward. It means turning upward and outward with clarity and confidence. It means contributing to global knowledge while ensuring national interest. It means exporting vaccines, not importing epidemics; exporting ideas, not importing dependency. It means being a voice of moral clarity in global debates on AI ethics, biosecurity, and climate justice.
In this century, geopolitical power will flow not just from armies and economies, but from laboratories and innovation ecosystems. Those who master science will shape the future. If India is to lead, it must first believe in its capacity to innovate, to solve and to serve. In this belief lies the foundation of a truly self-reliant and sovereign nation. India First is a necessity for the future. And science and technology, when guided by national purpose and global responsibility, are its most powerful instruments.
(The author is the former Director of the Agharkar Research Institute, Pune, and Visiting Professor at the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Mumbai.)
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