Opposite the Davos Congress Centre in the chalet for years reserved for Microsoft, the brash display of People's Republic red left little doubt that this year the prime spot had been yielded to CCTV, China's state-run television network. As if to drive home the point about Asia's growing clout, NDTV became the first Indian channel to host a live debate at Davos, with the theme of India's place in the world.

This was clearly meant to be the Davos when the west finally came to terms with the steady shift of economic and political power eastwards, revealed in an epiphany of financial crisis and its wrenching aftermath. But the reality has been quite different. Davos instead has been locked in fractious debate about bankers' bonuses, US jobs and the financial implosion of Greece. Plenary sessions at which delegates discussed how to regulate the financial industry or the risks of a double-dip recession were often devoid of Asian representation.

“The west is very absorbed by its own problems and hasn't had the time or energy to look up and see what's happening,” said Pramod Bhasin, chief executive of Genpact, India's biggest business processing outsourcer. “That's quite funny because the world is splitting apart, even as we say that we are getting more globalised.”