Amidst the continuing controversy over slashing of fees in the Indian Institutes of Management, Infosys chairman Narayana Murthy has expressed hope that he will succeed in persuading Human Resource Minister Murli Manohar Joshi not to subsidise higher education.

Speaking at a reception hosted in his honour on Monday night by the Sharjah Free Zone and organised by the Indian Business and Professional Council, he hoped that he will "one day succeed" in persuading Joshi in not subsidising higher education.

"Joshi is a friend and I have dinner with him. I have to give more cohesive arguments to him to convince him of my viewpoint," he said.

The Indian government would do well to get out of business and commercial activity leaving them for its citizens to manage, Murthy said.

Asked what his priorities would be, if he were to be the prime minister, Murthy said, "I am too small a man for the position and besides there are too many contenders for the same."

Murthy, however, said his priorities would be education and healthcare for all, population control and peace with neighbours particularly Pakistan.

"If India has to be taken seriously internationally, it has to take education as the first priority. As many as 315 million Indians are illiterate and no other country has that number of illiterates," Murthy said adding that 50 per cent of the population also did not have world-class safe drinking water.

"Whether we like it or not, we have to control the population growth like the Chinese have done if we want to make progress and sustain it. We will have to hold our peace with neighbours, most importantly Pakistan," he said.