Making Progress, but not Rapidly. Comparison between India and China

I read the article by Arunachalam et al. on 'Chemistry research in India: making progress, but not rapidly' with interest. The comment 'making progress, but not rapidly' perhaps applies to Indian science as a whole. It is also appropriate to compare the Indian performance with that of the Chinese. In the 1980s, I recall an internationally acclaimed science journalist describing India as the superpower of Third World science. That is no longer true. China has progressed by leaps and bounds, and has left us far behind. I would like to submit that one reason, probably the primary reason, for this disparity is the difference in the level of support for science in the two countries. Around 1990, the R&D expenditure in China and India was at a comparable level.