India and the world: A blueprint for partnership and growth
Edited by Namita Bhandare,
Roli, Rs 395

Every year, the Hindustan Times brings together key figures from India and abroad to discuss pressing problems in the country as well as to identify areas of political and economic cooperation. The topic for last year was ?India and the World ? A model for partnership and growth.? The present volume carries the speeches delivered at the conference and the question and answer session that followed. The deliberations are mostly woven around the themes of economy, security and democracy ? that form the matrix through which pertinent issues of the modern world can be understood.

Speaking on this particular occasion, the prime minister, Manmohan Singh, pointed out that participating in the goings on of the modern world and establishing partnerships for growth are indeed challenges that India have been grappling with for some time now. The government, according to Singh, would like to give the highest priority to accelerating economic growth through a process of economic and social development that is equitable and just.

South Asia must regain its pre-eminence in the global economy, said Singh. India will continue to strengthen its wide-ranging and multi-dimensional relationships with America, the European Union and Russia, added the Indian prime minister.

The Congress president, Sonia Gandhi, noted that there are many challenges that lie in India?s way. It is crucial that the challenges to literacy, education, health and infrastructure are met successfully, she added. Economic integration with the world in a manner determined by Indian interests will help its domestic economy to grow at a faster rate. This, according to Gandhi, is something which is essential for generating employment and eliminating the country?s stark poverty-like conditions.

The finance minister, P. Chidambaram, takes up the contentious issue of whether India will become the next economic superpower. Chidambaram rightly observes that it will be difficult for India, which is steeped in poverty and deprivation, to qualify for the superpower status. The provision for basic necessities, however, would help the country achieve its goal. This, then, should be the government?s priority while chalking the country?s plan for the immediate future.

While talking about south Asian unity, Chandrika Kumaratunga, president of Sri Lanka, says that the SAARC has the potential of unifying south Asia and converting it into an economic powerhouse.

Former British prime minister, John Major, also sounded quietly optimistic about India?s future. ?India?s potential for manufacturing and engineering is immense?, said Major. Foreign direct investments are picking up and the world looks upon India as a growing opportunity, he added.

K. Natwar Singh, India?s foreign minister, however, argues that if India were to play a leading role in shaping the global order, then the country must strive to create collectively an economic environment where each nation and people have a credible opportunity to seek a decent livelihood with a sense of dignity and self- respect.

Singh identifies certain attributes of India that can serve as examples to a troubled and divided world. According to Singh, India is a multi-ethnic, multi-cultural and multi-religious society. It is also one of the few countries in the world which has a successful democratic system in place. The global order, according to the foreign minister, can learn a few things from India to ensure that challenges are addressed through collective decision-making and not by a process which is dominated by a few. It is then the time when India has to take it upon itself to create the boundaries of a new, and more equal, global order.