If you haven't read "The World is Flat", I highly recommend you add it to your reading list. It's a great overview of the events that transpired and led to the global economy of today.
Reading a section about India's IT boom I couldn't help but relate Pakistan's current state.
Education: India began it all with a great infrastructure when Nehru established IIT in 1951 and whose graduates claim that its standards are higher than the Ivy Leagues of America. Currently there are 6 of these intellectual "factories" among other private institutions. As an academic institution they are highly competitive for admission (and there is no greater catalyst for innovation and hard work than competition).
Leadership: India has also had good role models and as such a sense of direction and ideals, Gandhi being the most prominent. The nation listened to him and he proved to be an excellent role model by way of example (As an example, the Aga Khani community is also very united because of a common role model and ideal).
Arts and Culture: India is also enriched by the Arts. The Bollywood industry provides them with a sense of self and a rich Indian culture that they can claim their own. It not only gives them an identity but it also gives them an escape--they go to the theatre and watch a movie on the weekends with friends and family but Pakistan has no such escape (in Karachi atleast, Clifton beach is probably the most popular venue for the masses on the weekend and Funland I believe has recently been shutdown). Bollywood caters to the masses and it binds them together the same way cricket brings us together seasonally (and provides us with an excellent past time and to some extent cultivates our competitive spirit).
Economy Policy: Then there is India's socioeconomic policies. Before Manmohan Singh opened up India's economy to foreign investors in 1991, India's economy was suffocating from lack of local competition and much of its intellectual work force went abroad (primarily America). This is currently proving to be a good mishap. These same people who migrated abroad in the 1950s are now well settled and have established jobs and businesses in America. They are able to bring business back home and being alumnis of institutes like IIT are also able to recruit people abroad. They have created a Silk Route between India and America and bound to their country by their sense of culture and unified leadership.
These factors together have put India on the atlas and provided an excellent mix for growth and prosperity. Pakistan in comparison is just beginning to gain some liberty. The Pop culture is mushrooming (having come a long way from the emergence of its first popular pop icons like Vital Signs). We are also opening ourselves up to foreign investment and privatization which is another healthy indicator and in line with the steps India took a decade ago. With a track record of self-serving leaders and the resulting corruption in the ranks, a dictatorship is not so bad after all.
One stifler, however, is PTCL's strong-arming and monopolistic practices. Telecommunications is the most critical industry for global and technological growth--it ingrains a technological mindset in the masses and connects the entire nation locally and globally. In a "flat world", a strong communication infrastucture is what will gain us opportunity in the global economy the same way India achieved it (data punching, call centers and then moving up the intellectual ladder by getting into media, graphics and so on, all of which piggybacked on its rich communications infrastructure for collaboration and management).
Without growth in the telecommunications sector we can't fully participate in the global economy. We need fast broadband, satellite uplinks, redundant connections and so on. A single failure of our Internet pipe (which lasted 10 days no less) shutdown all call center businesses and showed us just how frail our infrastructure is. Our prior leaders lacked any vision of economic growth and prosperity, atleast in the global sphere and the developments right now and the stock market growth are all positive indicators.
As we step into the new year, let's hope for political stability and continue to
incubate this growth and prosperity irrespective of the political climate.
