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from The Economist of 1 Apr 2004 Please don't call it outsourcing
UNDERSTANDABLY, many Indians take umbrage at the wave of protectionist rhetoric engulfing the American election campaign. Not only do they point to the endless lectures they have received from Americans in years past on the benefits of globalisation and open markets. They also resent an insinuation underlying the debate over “outsourcing”: that all countries such as India have to offer is cheap labour and a telecommunications link. Just look, they say, at the extent of the high-end research and development (R&D) work being undertaken in India.

Or, rather, they say so in private. In public, conscious of western fears of the migration of ever more technically demanding and high-paid jobs, many Indians have recently concluded that the best strategy is not to draw attention to themselves. The ultimate American nightmare is not just about white-collar employment, but the loss of the country's great international advantage: the ability to innovate.