No. That's not what it means at all.
Technology is created, developed, owned, deployed, adapted and accessed
India has nearly the same level of access to the latest technologies as most countries
Indians have access to the latest tech in most areas - Enterprise solutions on AWS, the latest versions of consumer apps, the latest iphones, the latest laptops in the market, vehicles with the latest technologies
Due to affordability issues, all but the priciest technologies are ‘accessible’ to Indians
I am not talking about ‘Access'
I am talking about ‘Creation , Development, Ownership, Deployment and Adaptation' of Technology not just access
Indians have access to the latest smartphones but the technology that powers the smartphones are entirely owned by corporations in other nations
Indians have no role in any of this
Indians have access to the latest servers , hardware and cloud infrastructure services that AWS has to offer
Despite this India has no role in the technology that drives these servers and their underlying applications
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So saying India is 35–40 years behind China in technology simply means - China can create, develop, own, deploy and adapt technologies today that would take India 35–40 years
For instance - China can independently manufacture Stealth Aircraft with Engines on an Industrial assembly line today
India might take another 30–40 years to independently manufacture the same with engines on an Industrial assembly line
However India could import or get into a joint venture and have access to the same type of aircraft, and build a sizeable fleet within 5–6 years
China has the ability to make it's own semiconductor infrastructure and server infrastructure , which functions effectively although it might be quite a few years away from what the States currently controls and owns
India has absolutely nothing of comparison
India might take another 30–40 years to effectively bring out mass production of functional advanced node chips to the market, that China can do today
That is what the 35–40 year gap refers to
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Living in 1985 is a reference to ‘Access' to technology
Technology gap refers to the control, ownership and deployment of technology
They are very different things
Since the world became global after 2000, most countries have access to modern technology
There is no country that lives in 1985 today 😊
Not even countries like Syria