The article feels all over the place.

What should India do to beat China?

Invest in education?

Exterminate millions of its own (undereducated) population in meaningless wars and poorly–planned public works?

Make their women burn their bras?

Switch Communism in for Hinduism and end Democracy?

Other than the first, I think I'd rather bow down to China.

If the author is reading - China is a single party nation state, India is a union of states. Dive into the metrics of states, you will find everything from Sub-sharan Africa levels of HDI to the ones that compete with European countries.

Getting to the bottom of this is one of the most important public policy issues in the world. When my family left Bangladesh in 1989, the country’s GDP per capita was similar to China’s and India’s. Today, India and Bangladesh are still poor countries while China has roared ahead. How can you replicate that?

So many responses to answer the title