Comment by mahranch
10 years ago
If I was facebook, I'd tread lightly.
India has a long history of reneging on deals. Once a deal is struck with most nations, that's it. Done deal. With India, they don't care - they'll do whatever is convenient for them.
They did just that on a huge WTO deal years in the making (source: http://www.npr.org/2014/08/10/339292735/why-indias-modi-defi...). The also reneged on a solar energy trade agreement with the U.S (source: http://www.upi.com/Business_News/Energy-Industry/2013/02/07/...).
Hell, even Russia and China won't back out of deals once struck. They'll piss and moan if it turns out they got the short end of the stick, but they'll still honor the deal.
I tell my clients to steer clear of India for this very reason - it's nearly impossible to know when a deal is "solid". There's very little recourse if a business or person reneges on a business deal, or rips you off.
I almost hope facebook wins this little battle; India benefits from facebook pumping a bunch of money into India's infrastructure to build it up, supplying internet to the poor, then India says "Nope, sorry facebook, you gotta go. It was nice having you!". Facebook would get what it deserves. I actually wouldn't be surprised if that happens.
I guess you have no idea what this is really about.
All we are asking our Govt. is to adopt same Net Neutrality standards that exist in US and other EU countries.
Companies like Uber/Amazon are already pumping huge money in India because they need us, not vice-versa. Just because we are open, unlike China, doesn't mean you can play unfair.
> All we are asking our Govt. is to adopt same Net Neutrality standards that exist in US and other EU countries.
I understand that, and support it 100%. I am 100% pro-net neutrality.
> Just because we are open, unlike China, doesn't mean you can play unfair.
My issue is that India will play unfair. They have a history of it.
Say what you will about all the people who have their own anecdotal bad experiences with Indian companies & professionals over the last 5-10 years (dozens of accounts that I've read here, on our very own hackernews), but the simple fact of the matter is that even India's government has a track record of reneging on deals. And these weren't small deals, these were deals years in the making.
That's not good for India. Investors will (and are) balking at the idea of entering the Indian market because who knows when India will pull the rug out from under them when the mood strikes. There's also very little legal recourse when that does happen. It doesn't help when your country is among the most corrupt countries on the planet; they ranked 94th in Transparency International's corruption index. There are 93 countries less corrupt than India. Source: http://www.transparency.org/cpi2013/results
> India has a long history of reneging on deals. Once a deal is struck with most nations, that's it. Done deal. With India, they don't care - they'll do whatever is convenient for them.
Most nations will do whatever is convenient for them. ex: If you are from US, GOP says they will cancel the Iran nuclear deal
> Hell, even Russia and China won't back out of deals once struck. They'll piss and moan if it turns out they got the short end of the stick, but they'll still honor the deal.
Not tue, ex: Hong Kong democracy
> I tell my clients to steer clear of India for this very reason - it's nearly impossible to know when a deal is "solid".
You just described all the other countries apart from developed countries where there are no severe penalties for walking out of a deal
> My issue is that India will play unfair. They have a history of it.
Every country does it. ex: Union carbide CEO lived happily in US till he died
> That's not good for India. Investors will (and are) balking at the idea of entering the Indian market because who knows when India will pull the rug out from under them when the mood strikes.
Investors know the risks, Equity Risk Premiums are higher for India (& other developing countries). If investors don't invest in India or China due to inherent risks then they might loose out in the long run given that the future returns from developed world will not be great
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Yes. A lot of things are fked up in India. That's not an argument to mess up one more. Internet is one thing we got right. Freedom of Speech, Online Censorship, Running an Internet Startup are no different than in US, even better. For starters, Our government doesn't spy. We don't get trolled for stupid patents. ETC
There are thousands of excellent Indian professionals, leading some of the top companies in the world. It's your loss if you make your opinion from the bad ones. We just have too many people.
Also, 2015 was the biggest ever in terms of VC deals 10+ Billion USD, Foreign Investments, etc.
Nicely done. Playing up stereotypes based on a couple of anecdotes. Do you have any solid evidence about this? Are you accusing a mass of 1.3 billion people, 1/5th of humanity, and their representative agents and agencies of being, what, dishonorable?
Let me google it for you,
"china renege on deal" https://www.google.com/search?q=china+reneges+on+deal&oq=chi...
"russia renege on deal" https://www.google.com/search?q=china+reneges+on+deal&oq=chi...
> laying up stereotypes based on a couple of anecdotes
I linked actual, HUGE trade deals that were important, worth billions, and between 2 nations. You linked me to empty search results.
Find me a single example of Russia or China reneging on deals with the WTO or with massive trade agreements between the U.S. There is a huge, massive difference.
India has been around for two orders of magnitude longer than facebook and is doing quite well without facebook and hopefully will gladly continue to do so.
It's quite the reverse situation here: Facebook leaves India, India continue unfazed. India gets rid of facebook, the overvalued facebook shares will plummet because facebook future depends on its success in conquering new users.
American-Indian(Sikh) guy here who actually has relatives there. India has not been doing well. Let Zuckerburg in and let him do some magic.