Bill Gates faces flak for calling India 'laboratory to try things'; triggers memories of 2009 vaccine trial controversy

Microsoft founder Bill Gates faced flak online after he called India “kind of laboratory to try things".

Gates made the remarks during a podcast with LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman, a clip of which is now going viral on social media with netizens calling him out for considering Indians as "Guinea Pigs" for experiments.

The American businessman was trying to highlight India's progress and its collaboration with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, when he said, "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 when you prove them out in India, you can take to other places."

"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.

The remarks have triggered the memories of the controversial clinical trials of Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) vaccine--funded by Gates' foundation--on tribal girls in India which led to seven deaths.

Posting a video of the podcast on X (formerly Twitter), a user 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!"

While some users defended Gates pointing out that the context of the comment is different, others questioned why the government allows Gates foundation's operations in India.

"Why does India allow his office, and his influence over there?" said a user.

Lawyer Prashant Bhushan also commented on the issue and wrote, "Bill Gates says he uses India as a laboratory for testing new drugs on us. And our govt allows this evil man & his foundations to use us as guinea pigs! Shocking and shameful!"