Bill Gates draws flak for calling India a ‘kind of laboratory to try things’

Bill Gates’ recent podcast with Reid Hoffman went viral, but it didn’t sit well with desi commentators after the tech mogul called India a “kind of laboratory to try things.” His remark left many fuming, with people calling him out for his comment.
“India is an example of a country where there’s plenty of things that are difficult there – the health, nutrition, education is improving and they are stable enough and generating their own government revenue enough that it’s very likely that 20 years from now people will be dramatically better off and it’s kind of a laboratory to try things that then when you prove them out in India, you can take to other places,” Bill Gates said in the podcast.
“And so our biggest non-US office for the Foundation is in India and the most number of pilot roll out things we’re doing anywhere in the world are with partners in India,” he added.
An X user reacted to the remark and wrote, “India is a laboratory, and we Indians are Guinea Pigs for Bill Gates. This person has managed everyone from the Government to opposition parties to the media. His office operates here without FCRA, and our education system has made him a hero! I don’t know when we will wake up!” The social media user posted a snippet of the podcast.
However, a few expressed that the flak against Microsoft co-founder is unnecessary. Just like this individual who wrote, “I genuinely don’t understand this conspiracy theory attitude against Bill Gates in India. There’s no guinea pig-style experiments for vaccines happening in India, period!”
Earlier in an interview with PTI, Bill Gates praised India for its focus on solving the problem of malnutrition. He said he would give the country “an A” for its efforts.
“Well, India, for its income level, acknowledges that some of these nutritional indicators are weaker than it would like. That kind of frankness and focus on it, I think is very impressive,” he told the outlet.